WASHINGTON (AP) -- Regulators have closed a small lender in Georgia, making it the third U.S. bank failure of 2015 following 18 closures last year.<br />
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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that it has taken over Capitol City Bank & Trust Co., based in Atlanta.<br />
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The bank operated eight branches and had $272.3 million in assets and $262.7 million in deposits as of Dec. 31.<br />
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First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., based in Raleigh, North Carolina, agreed to assume all of Capitol City Bank's deposits and to buy essentially all of the failed bank's assets.<br />
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The failure of Capitol City Bank is expected to cost the federal deposit insurance fund $88.9 million.<br />
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U.S. bank failures have been declining since peaking at 157 in 2010 following the financial crisis and the Great Recession.
