Republic First Bank Declares Bankruptcy, Holding Significant Assets in the US

Republic First Bank, a private bank in the United States (US), failed on April 26, 2024.

This was announced by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the US deposit insurance agency.

"Today, Republic First Bank was closed by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities," the FDIC said in a press release on Friday, April 26, 2024.

To protect depositors, the FDIC reached an agreement with Fulton Bank to assume all customer deposits and purchase Republic First Bank.

"Republic First Bank depositors will become Fulton Bank depositors; customers do not need to change their banking relationships to maintain their deposit insurance," the FDIC stated.

The collapse of Republic First Bank is one of the largest bank failures in the US in the last five years.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, as of the end of 2023, Republic First Bank had total assets of US$5.87 billion.

This makes Republic First Bank the fourth-largest bank failure in the US since 2019 by asset value.

Larger failures were previously experienced by First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank in 2023, with asset values detailed in the chart.

These bank failures were partly triggered by the central bank's high-interest rate policy.

"Similar to many other banks, high interest rates put pressure on Republic First Bank by increasing unrealized losses in their securities portfolio," said Zuhaib Gull, assistant research manager at S&P Global Market Intelligence, in a press release on Friday, April 26, 2024.

"Republic First Bank had significant unrealized losses, and this was seen as a factor hindering buyer interest," he continued.