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Georgia is Leading the US in Number of Banks and Bank Failures …

November 10, 2009 By: FiestaMaster Category: Financial Info, Long term savings, Option Trading, Pension 401k, Stock Trading, insurance info

By Dave Flessner
Publication: Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)

With seven so far this year, Georgia leads the nation in the number of bank failures. Regulators have closed a dozen Georgia banks since last August, or more than one of every five U.S. banks shut down since last summer. Bank analysts said the same forces that helped fuel Georgia’s growth now are leading to an increase in bank failures.”Each of the banks that has failed has had a huge concentration in residential construction loans that grew for many years,” said Joe Brannen, president of the Georgia Bankers Association.

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Bank analysts said the same forces that helped fuel Georgia’s growth now are leading to an increase in bank failures.

Rex Schuette, chief financial officer for United Community Banks, said many of the troubled banks in Georgia were started over the past decade and a half, when population growth fueled demand for more housing developments, especially in suburban areas around Atlanta or in the retirement havens of North Georgia’s mountains.

“Each of the banks that has failed has had a huge concentration in residential construction loans that grew for many years,” said Joe Brannen, president of the Georgia Bankers Association. Such banks capitalized on Georgia’s population growth — the sixth fastest in the nation — and abundance of investors interested in the financial services industry prior to the past couple of years, Mr. Brannen said.

Because Georgia didn’t allow banking across county lines until the late 1990s, its 159 counties also kept or sprouted many new smaller banks across the state. With a rich tradition of state-charted banks and investors eager to cash in on the state’s growth, Georgia is trailed only by California and Florida — both bigger states — in the number of new banks started in the 21st century, according to FDIC figures.

It seems as if banks in Georgia just can’t seem to stay solvent. This may be turning into a real problem for residents of that state, as many of them could soon have far fewer banking options.

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