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Money and Markets: Investing Insights

Weiss Ratings: Community First Bank, North Georgia Bank, and American Trust Bank Identified as Weak More Than Two Years Ago

JUPITER, Florida (February 7, 2011) — On Friday, regulators closed three banks: Community First Bank Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; North Georgia Bank, Watkinsville, Georgia and American Trust Bank, Roswell, Georgia. This brings the total number of U.S. bank and thrift failures to 14 for 2011.

Community First Bank Chicago, Chicago, Illinois with assets of just over $56.9 million at September 30, 2010 had been rated E- (“Very Weak”) for the last four quarters by Weiss Ratings and was first identified as “Weak” in April 2006 based on fourth quarter 2005 data, its first reporting period as the bank was established in November 2005. It reported a loss of more than $1.3 million through September 30, 2010. Community First had below-FDIC-mandated Tier 1 (5%) and Risk-Based Capital (6%) ratios of 2.76% and 4.78%, respectively.

Nonperforming loans made up just over 5% of its loan portfolio. Northbrook Bank and Trust Company based in Northbrook, Illinois with assets of $1.1 billion and a Weiss Rating of “D” will assume the deposits of Community First Bank Chicago.

North Georgia Bank, Watkinsville, Georgia, east of Atlanta, with assets of $166.3 million at September 30, 2010 had been rated E- (“Very Weak”) for the last six quarters by Weiss Ratings and was first identified as “Weak” in June 2008 based on first quarter 2008 data. The bank reported a loss of $4.8 million through September 30, 2010. North Georgia had below-FDIC-mandated Tier 1 (5%) and Risk-Based Capital (6%) ratios of 2.20% and 4.48%, respectively.

Nonperforming loans represented almost 30% of its loan portfolio. BankSouth based in Greensboro, Georgia with assets of $249.5 million and a Weiss Rating of “D+” will assume the deposits of North Georgia Bank.

American Trust Bank, Roswell, Georgia, north of Atlanta, with assets of just over $249.2 million at September 30, 2010 had been rated E- (“Very Weak”) for the last six quarters by Weiss Ratings and was first identified as “Weak” in January 2008 based on third quarter 2007 data. The bank reported a loss of more than $4.8 million through September 30, 2010. American Trust had below-FDIC-mandated Tier 1 (5%) and Risk-Based Capital (6%) ratios of 2.23% and 4.19%, respectively. Charged-off loans made up just over 2% of its loan portfolio. Renasant Bank based in Tupelo, Mississippi, with assets of $4.2 billion and a Weiss Rating of “D+” will assume the deposits of American Trust Bank.

Weiss Ratings, the nation’s independent provider of bank and insurance company ratings, accepts no payments for its ratings from rated institutions. It also distributes independent ratings on the shares of thousands of publicly traded companies, mutual funds, closed-end funds and ETFs.

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{ 1 comment }

larry Levin Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 6:08 am

Do Weiss ratings cover banks in UK or Europe?

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