The Texas Department of Banking closed the Enloe State Bank in Cooper on Friday, May 31st, and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) receiver in a failure estimated to cost the deposit insurance fund about $27 million.
The closure comes less than a month after Texas State Fire Marshal’s and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) opened an investigation into a suspicious fire in the bank on Saturday, May 11th.
Delta County Sheriff Ricky Smith said, “There were papers lit on fire and while we believe it is suspicious we don’t have any more information at this point.”
In a press release, the FDIC said to protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Legend Bank, N.A., Bowie, Texas, to assume the insured deposits of The Enloe State Bank.
“The only office of The Enloe State Bank will reopen as a branch of Legend Bank, N.A. during their normal business hours starting Monday,” the agency said.
“Depositors of the failed bank will automatically become depositors of Legend Bank, N.A. Deposits assumed by Legend Bank, N.A. will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage.”
The Enloe State Bank had total assets of $36.7 million and total deposits of $31.3 million, of which there were approximately $500,000 that exceeded FDIC insurance limits.
“This estimate is likely to change once the FDIC obtains additional information from these customers,” the agency said.
Customers with accounts in excess of $250,000 should contact the FDIC toll-free at 1-888-408-4360 to set up an appointment to discuss their deposits. This phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Central Time (CT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., CT; on Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., CT; Monday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., CT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., CT.
The Enloe State Bank is the first bank to fail in the nation this year. The last bank failure was Washington Federal Bank for Savings in Chicago, Illinois on December 15, 2017. The last failure in Texas was Texas Community Bank, N.A., in The Woodlands, Texas on December 13, 2013.
