Crisis brings down two more regional US banks

NEW YORK: Two more regional US banks ��� in California and Texas ��� have collapsed amidst the worst finance crisis since the Great Depression, bringing to 19 the total number of US banks that have gone under in this year alone.

More collapses are expected among the nation���s 8,400 banks. The US mortgage crisis, which has seen more than three million homes foreclosed since the crisis began in late 2006, has crimped shut credit flow world-wide and prompted unprecedented global government interventions in the private sector.

The latest two victims were the Houston-based Franklin Bank and the smaller Los Angeles-based Security Pacific Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said. Franklin Bank was closed by the FDIC and the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending.

Its $3.7 billion in deposits were assumed Prosperity Bank, Bloomberg financial news service reported Saturday. Security Pacific was closed by the California commissioner of financial institutions and the FDIC. Its $450.2-million in assets were acquired by Pacific Western Bank, the FDIC said.