First Republic Bank was seized by regulators and then sold to JP Morgan Chase

Regulators seized control of First Republic Bank early Monday, making it the third financial institution taken under state control this year, and then immediately accepted a bid from JP Morgan Chase for all of First Republic’s assets, the California-based agency said.

The state’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) said it has taken over San Francisco-based First Republic and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. DFPI said the FDIC “accepted an application from JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Columbus, Ohio, to accept all deposits, including all uninsured deposits, and substantially all of the assets of First Republic Bank.”

DFPI said it acted in accordance with California law against a financial institution “that conducts its business in an unsafe or unsound manner” and is in a “condition that … is unsafe or unsound” to conduct banking operations.

The moves come nearly a week after First Republic revealed that customers withdrew more than 100 billion dollars during last month’s panic – a revelation that further fueled concerns that the First Republic could not survive on its own.

First Republic follows Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, both of which went bankrupt last month and were taken over by the government. Like Silicon Valley, a large portion of First Republic’s deposits were uninsured, making it more prone to withdrawals by careless customers.

A rare step – 11 largest financial institutions of the country gave the First Republic $30 billion in deposits last month to prop up the troubled bank.

Federal officials from the FDIC, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve held private talks with other banks on Friday in hopes of finding a rescue plan for First Republic, Reuters informed, but there was no private rescue. Takeover talks continued through the weekend in hopes that a deal could be completed before the US stock markets opened on Monday.

At that time, the bank came under FDIC control conducting approximately $233 billion in assets. Its shares have lost 97% of their value since January, knocking more than $21 billion off First Republic’s market value.

Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Gary Cohn, the former president of Goldman Sachs who served as chief economic adviser to former President Donald Trump, was accurate in predicting that “the FDIC would prefer to sell the bank whole rather than piecemeal. What will most likely happen is that the FDIC will take control and then simultaneously resell the asset to the successful bidder.” Cohn is now the vice chairman of IBM.