(St. George, UT) - SunFirst Bank was closed by the Utah Department of Financial Institutions Friday, November 4, 2011. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was subsequently named Receiver. No advance notice is required to be given to the public when a financial institution is closed.

FDIC Announcement

Depositors of SunFirst Bank will automatically become depositors of Cache Valley Bank where deposits remain insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The three branches of SunFirst Bank, two in St. George and one in Hurricane, will reopen as Cache Valley Bank during regular business hours on Saturday. For more information about Cache Valley Bank, go to Cache Valley Bank.

Depositors of SunFirst Bank whose accounts were assumed by Cache Valley Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards, according to the FDIC. Checks drawn on those accounts will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

The FDIC said customers of SunFirst Bank should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from Cache Valley Bank that it has completed systems changes to allow other Cache Valley Bank branches to process their accounts as well.

As of September 30, 2011, SunFirst Bank had approximately $198.1 million in total assets and $169.1 million in total deposits. Cache Valley Bank agreed to purchase approximately $177.3 million of the SunFirst's assets in addition to assuming deposits. The FDIC will retain approximately $15 million in deposits that may be subject to external litigation involving SunFirst Bank.

The FDIC and Cache Valley Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $128.9 million of SunFirst Bank's assets. Cache Valley Bank agreed to share in the losses in the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share transaction is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by the agreement maintaining them in the private sector. The transaction is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers.

All shares of SunFirst Bank were owned by its holding company, SunFirst Corporation. The FDIC said the holding company was not included in the closing of the bank or the resulting receivership. The officers and directors of SunFirst Bank Corporation as of July 20, 2011, according to filings with the Utah Department of Commerce, were James Eardley, Chairman and Director; Allison P. McCoy, President; David L. Watson, Secretary and Director; James Ence, Director; Steve Heaton, Director and Stephen Wade, Director.

Bank customers with questions about Friday's transaction may call the FDIC toll-free at (800) 895-0643. The phone number will be operational on Saturday from 9:00AM - 6:00PM MDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00PM, MST; on Monday from 8:00AM to 8:00PM and thereafter from 9:00AM to 5:00PM. For more information, go to www.fdic.gov.

Regulators on Friday also closed a small bank in Nebraska, bringing to 87 the number of bank closings in the US this year.

The number of closures has fallen sharply in 2011 as banks have worked their way through the bad debt accumulated in the recession. By this time last year, regulators had closed 143 banks.