Calm takeover of 1st National and First Heritage by Martina Janeckova

On Friday July 25, 2008, the 28 branches of the 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank N. A., owned by Scottsdale, Arizona- based First National Bank Holding Co.- were closed by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said that 1st National and First Heritage were undercapitalized and were experiencing serious problems. FDIC assured customers of the two banks that their money was protected, which prevented lines of customers after the bank takeover. This was a contrast to hundreds of angry customers waiting in lines this month after IndyMac Bank’s assets were seized. The two banks were taken over by Mutual of Omaha bank, which bought all of the two bank’s deposits, even those over the amount protected by FDIC insurance limits. As of June 30, the two banks had total assets of $3.6 billion, most of them were in 1st National and only $254 million were in First Heritage. On Monday, Mutual of Omaha will open banks as its own branches, said David Barr, spokesman of FDIC. 1st National has 10 branches in Nevada and 15 in Arizona. First Heritage N. A. has 3 branches in Southern California. During the weekend, accountholders could access their funds by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Jeff Schmid, chairman and CEO of Mutual of Omaha Bank, said the acquisition accords with the company’s growth strategy to get aggressive with banking. Mutual of Omaha Bank has $800 million in assets and operates 14 retail branches in Nebraska and Colorado. It's a subsidiary of Mutual of Omaha, a 99-year-old insurance and financial services company with more than $19 billion in total assets.

by Martina Janeckova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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edited by Beata Biskova