First Republic Bank was seized by federal regulators early Monday and sold to JPMorgan Chase Bank. The San Francisco-based bank became the third to fail this year, joining Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, that collapsed in March. The three ranked among the top 30 U.S. banks by assets last year, but are far smaller than the country’s biggest financial institutions, which measure their assets in the trillions.
Three of the four largest-ever bank failures have happened since March
By Luis Melgar
and Updated May 1, 2023 at 9:56 a.m. EDT|Published March 13, 2023 at 6:46 p.m. EDT
Top 50 banks in the U.S. for 2022, by assets
JPMorgan Chase
Bank assets
$3.2T
$3T
$3T
500B
Bank of America
$2.4T
Citibank
$2T
$1.8T
Wells Fargo
$1.7T
$1T
Top 14
First Rep.
Bank
Top 16
$213B
Silicon Valley
Bank
Top 29
$209B
Signature
Bank
0
$110B
Data as of Dec. 31, 2022
Top 50 banks in the U.S. for 2022, by assets
JPMorgan Chase
Bank assets
$3.2T
$3T
$3T
500B
Bank of America
$2.4T
Citibank
$2T
$1.8T
Wells Fargo
$1.7T
$1T
Top 14
First Rep.
Bank
Top 16
$213B
Silicon Valley
Bank
Top 29
Signature
Bank
$209B
0
$110B
Data as of Dec. 31, 2022
Top 50 banks in the U.S. for 2022, by assets
Bank assets
$3T
JPMorgan Chase
Top 16
500B
$3.2T
Silicon Valley Bank
Citibank
$209B
$1.8T
Wells Fargo
Top 14
Bank of America
$1.7T
$1T
$2T
$3T
0
First
Republic Bank
$2.4T
Top 29
Signature
Bank
$213B
$110B
Data as of Dec. 31, 2022
Top 50 banks in the U.S. for 2022, by assets
Bank assets
$3T
JPMorgan Chase
500B
Top 16
Citibank
$3.2T
Silicon Valley Bank
$1.8T
$209B
Top 14
First Republic
Bank
Wells Fargo
Bank of America
$1T
$2T
$3T
0
$1.7T
$2.4T
Top 29
Signature Bank
$213B
$110B
Data as of Dec. 31, 2022
The three banks catered to the technology industry, which have retreated from the enormous growth of the early pandemic era and are now beset with layoffs. First Republic served the tech industry and had a wealthy clientele. Silicon Valley Bank was crucial to venture capital firms. Signature served as a key financial institution for the cryptocurrency industry. Like SVB, First Republic’s investments created huge losses as interest rates rose.
The failures of SVB, Signature and First Republic mark three of the four largest failures of a federally insured bank ever. The largest, Washington Mutual, crashed at the start of the Great Recession in 2008. Since 2001, more than 500 banks have failed, but the vast majority were in the wake of the Great Recession, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data shows.
Recent bank failures have paled in comparison to today’s closures. Two banks that failed in the fall of 2020 totaled just over $200 million. At the end of March, First Republic had nearly $200 billion in assets.
Bank failures since 2001
2001
Bank assets
$100B
2003
$1B
2005
Washington Mutual held $307B
in assets when it failed in 2008
2007
2009
2011
2013
440 banks
failed between
2009 and 2012
2015
2017
2019
2021
Silicon
Valley Bank
Signature
Bank
$209B
$110B
2023
First
Republic
Bank
$229B
Bank failures since 2001
2001
Bank assets
$100B
$1B
2003
2005
Washington Mutual held $307B
in assets when it failed in 2008
2007
2009
2011
2013
440 banks
failed between
2009 and 2012
2015
2017
2019
2021
Silicon
Valley Bank
Signature
Bank
$209B
$110B
First
Republic
Bank
2023
$229B
First Republic Bank
Bank failures since 2001
$229B
440 banks failed
between 2009
and 2012
Washington Mutual
held $307B in assets
when it failed in 2008
Signature Bank
$110B
Bank assets
Silicon
Valley Bank
$100B
$230B
$1B
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
2023
Bank failures since 2001
440 banks failed between
2009 and 2012
Signature Bank
$110B
Washington Mutual held $307B
in assets when it failed in 2008
First
Republic
Bank
$229B
Bank assets
Silicon Valley Bank
$100B
$209B
$1B
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
2023
After the failures of SVB and Signature, First Republic appeared to have weathered the initial storm when JPMorgan Chase led an 11-bank team in depositing with $30 billion last month in a move designed to reassure depositors that the bank could honor future withdrawals. But at Friday’s market close, First Republic’s stock had fallen 97 percent from the start of the year.
Data on U.S. banks by assets is from the Federal Reserve. Bank failures since 2001 come from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
