Normal Friday financial news - Ameribank, Inc., Northfork, WV was taken over by FDIC yesterday

In all the excitement and panic surrounding the largest government action to save failed Wall Street gamblers bankers yesterday, it would be easy to overlook that the FDIC tool over Ameribank, Inc., Northfork, WV.

Ameribank was a small bank with only $102 million in deposits and $115 million in assets as of June 30th. According to the AP article

Ameribank ran into trouble because of "excessive growth" in the construction loans for property rehabilitation, mainly in low- and moderate-income housing markets, according to the federal Office of Thrift Supervision, the bank's primary regulator. [Snip]

Construction and development loans have been the fastest-growing category of troubled loans for U.S. banks, and many banks have heavy concentrations of them in their lending portfolios, according to the FDIC. Some small banks are considered especially vulnerable.

The 12 bank failures so far this year compare with three for all of 2007, and federal banking officials have said that more banks are in danger of collapse.

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Here is the FDIC's Failed Bank List