10 of the biggest U.S. bank failures of the last decade

Earlier this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned of looming bank failures. The issue has become particularly pertinent for smaller and medium-sized institutions that bear an even bigger brunt of higher-for-longer interest rates and commercial real estate troubles than their global counterparts.

Despite there having been just one bank failure so far this year, fears have naturally remained heightened after last year’s regional banking crisis and ongoing red flags from New York Community Bank, a massive regional bank with $112.9 billion of assets.

The bigger the institution that falls, the bigger the ripple effects on customers, the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC), and the banking sector as a whole.

Check out the 10 largest bank failures of the last decade based on the dollar-value of assets at each collapsed bank, according to data from the FDIC.

10. Seaway Bank and Trust Company

Seaway Bank and Trust Company, based in Chicago, was closed on Jan. 27, 2017. All of the bank’s deposit accounts were transferred to Dallas-based State Bank of Texas.

It had $361.2 million in assets, making it the tenth-largest bank failure in the U.S. in the last decade.

9. Valley Bank

Moline, Illinois-based Valley Bank was shuttered by regulators on June 20, 2014, and was scooped up by Great Southern Bank in Springfield, Missouri.

With $456.4 million in assets at the time, Valley Bank is the No. 9 biggest bank failure of the last 10 years.

8. The National Republic Bank of Chicago

The National Republic Bank of Chicago was shutdown on Oct. 24, 2014 — the fifth bank failure in Illinois that year and the 16th in the country. Its deposits were also picked up by the State Bank of Texas.

At the time of its closing, the National Republic Bank of Chicago had $954.4 million in assets.

7. Guaranty Bank

Milwaukee-based Guaranty Bank closed on May 5, 2017 with $1 billion in assets — the seventh-biggest U.S. bank failure since 2014.

First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company of Raleigh, North Carolina assumed all of Guaranty’s deposits.

6. First NBC Bank

First NBC Bank, a New Orleans-based institution, was shuttered weeks earlier on April 28, 2017. Gulfport, Mississippi-headquartered Whitney Bank took over all $1.6 billion of First NBC’s transactional deposits and bought roughly $1 billion of the failed bank’s assets.

At the time of its closing, First NBC had $4.74 billion in assets.

5. Doral Bank

San Juan, Puerto Rico-based Doral Bank was shuttered by regulators on Feb. 27, 2015, following eight straight years of losses and a murder investigation. Banco Popular de Puerto Rico accepted all deposits, and reached separate agreements to transfer deposits and assets in specific markets to a number of financial institutions across the U.S.

Doral was the fifth-largest bank failure of the last decade, with $5.9 billion in assets.

4. Republic First Bank

On April 26, 2024, the U.S. saw its first bank failure of the year. Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank, home to $6 billion in assets was forced to close, and Fulton Bank took charge of almost all its deposits and assets.

3. Signature Bank

New York’s Signature Bank collapsed on March 12, 2023, marking the second failure of the regional banking crisis. At the time of its closure, Signature had $110.4 billion in assets — the third-biggest failure of the last 10 years.

One week after closing, Hicksville, New York-based Flagstar Bank — a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp — acquired nearly all of Signature’s deposits and certain loan portfolios.

2. Silicon Valley Bank

Silicon Valley Bank set off last year’s regional bank failures. The Santa Clara, California-based bank collapsed on March 10, 2023, with $209 billion in assets.

On March 26, 2023, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement for all of Silicon Valley Bank’s deposits and loans with First Citizens Bank & Trust Company.

1. First Republic Bank

First Republic Bank’s failure last year was the last of the regional banking crisis, the biggest of 2023, and of the past decade in the U.S. The San Francisco-based institution was shuttered by regulators on May 1, 2023, holding $229.1 billion in assets.

JPMorgan Chase scooped up all of First Republic’s deposits and almost all of its assets.