UPDATE 1-Bank regulators close two Florida banks
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WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Regulators seized two Florida banks on Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures this year to 122, the highest annual level since 1992.
Bank regulators closed Orion Bank of Naples, Fla. and Century Bank, Federal Savings Bank of Sarasota, Fla.
The failures on Friday are estimated to cost the FDIC's insurance fund a total of $959 million.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said Orion Bank had total assets of $2.7 billion and total deposits of about $2.1 billion. The 23 branches of Orion Bank will reopen on Saturday as branches of Lafayette, Louisiana-based Iberiabank, the FDIC said.
Century Bank had total assets of $728 million and total deposits of about $631 million. Century Bank, FSB's 11 branches also will reopen on Saturday as branches of Iberiabank.
FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has said the pace of bank failures will remain elevated through next year, especially as the commercial real estate sector continues to suffer.
Last year, 25 U.S. banks failed, compared to just three in all of 2007.
The FDIC said depositors of both failed banks can continue to access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards.
The FDIC insurance fund's balance, which is used to insure bank accounts up to $250,000, went negative at the end of the third quarter, drained by a rising tide of bank failures. The FDIC has said that despite the negative balance, it has plenty of access to funds to safeguard bank deposits.
The agency acted this week to give it more cash by ordering banks to prepay three years of industry fees. The prepayment will give the FDIC about $45 billion. (Reporting by Christopher Doering; editing by Carol Bishopric)
