US regulators have taken hold of Republic First Bancorp and arranged to sell it to Fulton Bank.

US Regulators Seize Republic First

According to Reuters, Republic First, headquartered in Philadelphia, was seized by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities after it abandoned funding talks with potential investors.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), as an appointed receiver, announced on Friday that Fulton Bank, a subsidiary of Fulton Financial Corp., will assume most deposits and purchase all assets of Republic Bank, the operating name for Republic First, to protect depositors.

As of January 31, Republic Bank had approximately $6 billion in total assets and $4 billion in total deposits. The FDIC estimates that the cost of the failure to its fund will be $667 million. Besides deposits, the Republic also had borrowings and other liabilities totaling about $1.3 billion.

Fulton Bank sees this acquisition as a strategic move to expand its presence in the Philadelphia market. The bank will effectively double its combined company deposits to around $8.6 billion by acquiring it.

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Regional Bank Failures

In a statement, Fulton Chairman and CEO Curt Myers expressed enthusiasm for the transaction, emphasizing the company's heightened regional footprint resulting from the deal.

According to Reuters, this development adds to the string of recent regional bank failures in the US, including the abrupt collapses of Silicon Valley, Signature, and First Republic in 2023.

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