New York Bank Agrees to Buy Failed Signature Bank
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Update as of April 28: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation released its assessment of Signature Bank’s failure and found poor management was primarily to blame for its collapse. It specifically called out management’s pursuit of rapid growth while neglecting to practice appropriate risk management. The report further found shortcomings in the FDIC’s own oversight of Signature Bank saying it could have moved faster in supervisory actions, but blamed “resource challenges with examination staff” that affected delivery of actions.
The original story below was published on March 20.
A subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp has agreed to buy all the loans and deposits of Signature Bank. The institution failed two days after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, and global financial markets continue to respond to the biggest bank failure since the Great Recession.
On March 20, Flagstar Bank officially assumed control of Signature Bank’s 40 former branches, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced Sunday. Signature Bank’s customers will automatically have their deposits transferred to Flagstar Bank. Those deposits are still insured by the FDIC. (If your bank is FDIC-insured, your deposits are insured by the federal government, up to $250,000 per institution and per ownership category.)
Signature had $88.6 billion in deposits, as of December 31, 2022, according to the announcement. Flagstar will assume those deposits, as well as $38.4 billion of Signature’s assets, including $12.9 billion worth of loans from Signature at a discount of $2.7 billion, per the announcement. Signature is the third-largest bank failure by assets in the U.S.
Signature operated a digital banking business with $4 billion in deposits. That business was not acquired by Flagstar; instead, the FDIC will distribute those deposits to Signature’s former customers directly.
Signature’s customers can call 866-744-5463 with any questions, per the announcement. Signature was based in New York City and operated 30 branches in the New York City metropolitan area and several along the West Coast.
The deal follows Silicon Valley Bank’s failure, which took place on March 10 after a bank run. It was the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history, the biggest being Washington Mutual’s shuttering amid the 2008 financial crisis. The failure of SVB has sent shockwaves across the globe and triggered a number of financial deals intended to stop panic from spreading.
Most recently, the Swiss bank UBS agreed to buy its rival, Credit Suisse, in a deal valued at $3.23 billion. Other deals include the British bank HSBC agreeing to buy Silicon Valley Bank’s British subsidiary, and First Republic Bank receiving a $30 billion deposit infusion from 11 U.S. banking giants, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.
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