So where do we stand in terms of the Georgia banking crisis?
It’s clear, first off, that things are improving, despite the 76 bank failures in the state since 2007 — and despite at least 65 banks in the state operating under some sort of heightened regulator scrutiny.
Troubled banks are slowly but surely getting bad loans off their books, and more banks are turning profitable. For some details on those trends that are relevant to the Savannah area, check out Adam Van Brimmer’s Savannah Morning News pieces here and here.
And it’s also becoming clear that the nationwide picture is improving. Yes, there are 960 banks on the unofficial problem bank list maintained by surferdude808 and published by Calculated Risk, and there are probably even more banks than that in trouble. Periodically, the FDIC will shut down a bank that had never been mentioned in any public release as being under heightened scrutiny.
Those numbers are bad, but the relatively slow pace of closures inevitably means that most of the banks on the list are going to survive. From Calculated Risk:
The first two months of 2011 suggest that we could see fewer than 100 bank failures in the U.S. in 2012. That’s really good news for all those banks in need of time to clean up their balance sheets.
Still, I’m disappointed that there hasn’t been any political will in Georgia to take a hard look at why our banks got hit so much harder than our neighbors’. Check out the FDIC’s failed bank list. Just 6 banks have failed in Alabama, just 3 in Tennessee, just 7 in South Carolina.
So the good news is that most of the following banks will survive, based on current trends. But all of these banks in Georgia are operating under some sort of heightened scrutiny from regulators. Check out the unofficial problem bank list for more information on each.
- Atlantic National Bank Brunswick GA
- Bank of Atlanta Atlanta GA
- Bank of Newington Newington GA
- Bank of Wrightsville Wrightsville GA
- Capitol City Bank & Trust Company Atlanta GA
- Cherokee Bank, National Association Canton GA
- Citizens Bank & Trust Company Eastman GA
- Citizens State Bank Kingsland GA
- Columbus Community Bank Columbus GA
- Community Bank of Pickens County Jasper GA
- Community Bank of the South Smyrna GA
- CornerstoneBank Atlanta GA 5/17/2010
- Covenant Bank & Trust Rock Spring GA
- Douglas County Bank Douglasville GA
- Eastside Commercial Bank Conyers GA
- F & M Bank and Trust Company Manchester GA
- Farmers & Merchants Bank Lakeland GA
- Farmers & Merchants Bank Eatonton GA
- Farmers & Merchants Bank Statesboro GA
- Farmers State Bank Lumpkin GA
- First Bank of Dalton Dalton GA
- First Chatham Bank Savannah GA
- First Cherokee State Bank Woodstock GA
- First Covenant Bank Commerce GA
- First National Bank South Alma GA
- First National Bank of Decatur County Bainbridge GA
- First National Bank of Griffin Griffin GA
- First National Community Bank Chatsworth GA
- First State Bank Wrens GA
- Flint River National Bank Camilla GA
- Georgia Heritage Bank Dallas GA
- Georgia Primary Bank Atlanta GA
- Gwinnett Community Bank Duluth GA
- Heritage Bank Jonesboro GA
- Heritage First Bank Rome GA
- Montgomery Bank & Trust Ailey GA
- North Georgia National Bank Calhoun GA
- Northside Bank Adairsville GA
- Northwest Georgia Bank Ringgold GA
- Oconee State Bank Watkinsville GA
- Peoples Bank Lyons GA
- Peoples Community National Bank Bremen GA
- Pineland State Bank Metter GA
- PrimeSouth Bank Blackshear GA
- Providence Bank Alpharetta GA
- Queensborough National Bank & Trust Company Louisville GA
- Rabun County Bank Clayton GA
- Security Exchange Bank Marietta GA
- South Georgia Bank Glennville GA
- State Bank of Georgia Fayetteville GA
- Stephens Federal Bank Toccoa GA
- Sunrise Bank Valdosta GA
- The Bank of Georgia Peachtree City GA
- The Bank of Perry Perry GA
- The Brand Banking Company Lawrenceville GA
- The Citizens Bank Nashville GA
- The Citizens Bank of Forsyth County Cumming GA
- The Coastal Bank Savannah GA
- The Farmers Bank Forsyth GA
- The First National Bank of Polk County Cedartown GA
- The Heritage Bank Hinesville GA
- The Patterson Bank Patterson GA
- The Savannah Bank, National Association Savannah GA
- The Trust Bank Lenox GA
- The Woodbury Banking Company Woodbury GA