The Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank, which operated as Republic Bank, was closed on Friday night by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. This is the first bank failure of the year and the latest regional bank failure since the shuttering of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March 2023 and First Republic Ban last May.
After the bank was closed, the FDIC immediately announced it entered into an agreement with Fulton Bank N.A. of Lancaster, Pennsylvania to assume substantially all of the deposits and purchase substantially all of the assets of Republic Bank. As of today, Republic Bank’s 32 branches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York will operate as branches of Fulton Bank, and First Republic’s customers will continue to access their accounts and products under the Fulton Bank structure.
Republic Bank had approximately $6 billion in total assets and $4 billion in total deposits as of Jan. 31. As of the first quarter, Fulton had roughly $28 billion in assets and around 200 locations throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia.
“With this transaction, we are excited to double our presence across the region,” said Fulton Chairman and CEO Curt Myers in a statement.
The FDIC estimated the bank’s closure will cost to its Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) $667 million. In a statement, the FDIC said that “compared to other alternatives, Fulton Bank’s acquisition of Republic Bank is the least costly resolution for the DIF.”
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