First Republic Bank shuttered, but Newport Beach branch still operating

The First Republic Bank branch on MacArthur Boulevard in Newport Beach is still in operation, though the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced the official closure of its parent company on Monday.

First Republic Bank, which was headquartered in San Francisco, is the third commercial bank to have failed in recent months and follows on the heels of both Signature and Silicon Valley banks, which both failed in March. The former also had a location in Newport Beach on Bayview Circle.

First Republic Bank’s failure is considered the second-largest bank failure in national history since Washington Mutual, which collapsed at the height of the 2008 financial crisis and was likewise absorbed into JPMorgan Chase Bank.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in an announcement Monday that the agency would be entering a purchase and assumption agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank to assume all deposits and substantially all assets of the bank. All 84 branches of First Republic Bank are now operating as ones of JPMorgan Chase Bank.

According to the FDIC, First Republic Bank had an estimated $229.1 billion in total assets and $103.9 billion in total deposits as of April 13.

In a statement also released by Chase, its chairman and chief executive officer Jamie Dimon said, “Our government invited us and others to step up, and we did. Our financial strength, capabilities and business model allowed us to develop a bid to execute the transaction in a way to minimize costs to the Deposit Insurance Fund.”

Requests for comment from First Republic Bank by the Daily Pilot were not answered, though phone lines to Newport Beach location remain in operation.

Federal officials said deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC and that customers won’t need to change their existing banking to retain deposit insurance up to $250,000 per account. Customers of First Republic Bank are advised to continue using their existing branch until they receive notification from JPMorgan Chase that it has completed system changes to allow other branches to process their accounts.