Regulators have seized control of First Republic, marking the third US bank failure since March. JPMorgan Chase emerged as the winning bidder for the ailing bank, taking all of its deposits and a “substantial majority of assets”.
This seizure is the largest bank failure since 2008 when Washington Mutual collapsed, with JPMorgan also taking the failed bank’s assets.
Attention had focused on First Republic since the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March, which revealed the vulnerability of institutions with a high proportion of uninsured deposits. First Republic saw clients withdraw more than $100bn in deposits since the collapse, and shares have lost 97% as of Friday’s close.
The acquisition will add over $500m of profit annually to JPMorgan, excluding the one-time costs, and will cost the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund an estimated $13bn. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon touted the acquisition as “complementary to our existing franchise” and “accretive to shareholders”.