Bank with Southern Nevada branches fails

A Texas bank with three Southern Nevada branches failed on Friday, and its deposits were taken over by a competitor.

Texas Banking Commissioner Charles Cooper announced the closure of First International Bank of Plano, Texas.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed as receiver, and in a bidding process, American First National Bank of Houston acquired all of the deposits of the failed bank and most of its loans.

First International Bank had loans and other assets of $240 million and deposits of $209 million.

In a statement, Cooper said the bank was closed due to poor oversight of lending activities that depleted its capital, leaving the bank critically undercapitalized. Efforts to raise additional capital were unsuccessful, resulting in the bank’s closure, the Texas agency said.

Besides its main office in Plano, First International Bank operated three branches in Texas and three in Nevada in Amargosa Valley, Las Vegas and Pahrump.

The FDIC said that depositors of First International Bank will automatically become depositors of American First National Bank.

“This evening and over the weekend, depositors of First International Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual,” the FDIC said.

The American-Asian owned American First National Bank says that, like the old First International Bank, it serves the Asian community and that its staff is primarily Asian-American, speaking several languages.

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