Account holders arriving at First Choice Community Bank branches in Newnan, Sharpsburg and Senoia got a surprise April 30. The Georgia Dept. of Banking and Finance closed the failed First Choice banking offices just before the close of business
April 29 and, with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as the appointed receiver, they were re-opened as part of the Bank of the Ozarks headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The FDIC in an April 29 press release said the state Dept. of Banking had closed the failed First Choice Bank. First Choice was headquartered in Dallas, with two branches in Newnan and one in Sharpsburg, Senoia, Douglasville and Carrollton.
All the new Bank of the Ozarks branches opened for business as usual April 30, with First Choice depositors automatically becoming depositors of Bank of the Ozarks, according to FDIC.
“Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits,” the FDIC said. “Customers of the failed banks should continue to use their former branches until they receive notice from Bank of the Ozarks that it has completed systems changes to allow other branches of Bank of the Ozarks to process their accounts as well. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.”
As of December 31, 2010, First Choice Community Bank had total assets of $308.5 million and total deposits of $310.0 million, according to the FDIC document, adding that, per agreement, Bank of the Ozarks will purchase essentially of its assets.
The FDIC and Bank of the Ozarks entered into loss-share transactions on the failed bank’s assets. The loss-share transaction for First Choice Community Bank was $260.7 million. Bank of the Ozarks will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreements. The loss-share transactions are projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The transactions also are expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers, according to FDIC.
For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.
Customers who have questions about today’s transactions can call the FDIC toll free at 1-800-894-7035. The phone number will be operational from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
First Choice was one of two Georgia banks to fail on April 29. The other was Valdosta-based The Park Avenue Bank.
