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State banking regulators closed two Maryland banks Friday, the first two bank failures in the state since 2010. The Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation shut down the Bank of the Eastern Shore in Cambridge and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver. The FDIC created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Eastern Shore to allow customers to access their deposits until May 25. The state financial commissioner also closed HarVest Bank of Maryland in Gaithersburg, whose deposits and other assets were acquired by Sonabank in McLean, Va. HarVest's four branches will reopen during normal business hours as Sonabank's branches.

State banking regulators closed two Maryland banks Friday, the first two bank failures in the state since 2010. The Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation shut down the Bank of the Eastern Shore in Cambridge and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver. The FDIC created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Eastern Shore to allow customers to access their deposits until May 25. The state financial commissioner also closed HarVest Bank of Maryland in Gaithersburg, whose deposits and other assets were acquired by Sonabank in McLean, Va. HarVest's four branches will reopen during normal business hours as Sonabank's branches.

The Office of Thrift Supervision on Friday closed Waterfield Bank in Germantown, making it the first bank failure in Maryland this year and the 25th in the nation. The bank, which had one branch and took deposits over the Internet, had $155.6 million in assets at the end of last year. Regulators transferred all insured deposits, except certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts, to a newly created Waterfield Bank FA, a temporary institution where customers can access their funds until April 5. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal regulators have ordered Regal Bank & Trust in Owings Mills to make certain changes, such as drawing up written plans for maintaining capital levels and reducing "substandard" assets, according to a document released Friday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Regal agreed to the order, issued a month ago, without admitting or denying any charges of unsafe or unsound banking practices, the FDIC said. Regal says it has $189 million in assets. Besides its Owings Mills headquarters, Regal has three branches in Baltimore County and Carroll County.

The General Accounting Office said yesterday that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s financial condition was weaker than previously estimated and that the deposit insurance agency would need additional money from the government within a few months.By the end of the year, the bank insurance fund "will likely be insolvent" but will still have the cash needed to pay depositors of failed banks, the accounting office said.The report by the GAO, an investigatory arm of Congress, showed that at the end of last year the FDIC fund covering bank deposits had a balance of $4 billion, less than half the $8.2 billion previously reported by the FDIC.

It took a year to win the contract to do tax work for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., but Piper & Marbury partner Lawrence Katz believes it was worth the wait.A year ago Mr. Katz, who heads Piper's tax practice in Baltimore, submitted a bid to assist the FDIC's in-house counsel with tax-related legal work surrounding the agency's takeover of failed institutions.Last month, Piper finally heard it beat 31 other law firms for the contract. Although the value of the contract could not be estimated, Mr. Katz said, he predicted it could occupy up to nine attorneys in Piper's Baltimore and Washington offices.

If you think that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) would insure you against losing money on shares of a mutual fund bought at a bank, your view would be consistent with those expressed by most people questioned in two public opinion surveys.You also would be wrong.Whether a fund is managed by a bank or a bank affiliate -- or by an independent investment adviser -- its shares are no more covered by the FDIC (as bank deposits are) than when you buy them from a broker.The extent of confusion about federal insurance of bank-sold fund shares that seems to prevail among current and prospective fund investors came to light last November, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates funds under the Investment Company Act of 1940, released the results of a survey it had commissioned.

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is privately projecting that it could have a $4 billion deficit by the end of next year if it is not recapitalized, according to banking sources.The projection, reportedly made in closed-door meetings this week with bankers on how to recapitalize the dwindling fund, would be the most pessimistic yet by the agency.However, FDIC Chairman L. William Seidman said late Thursday afternoon that the banking sources misunderstood what was said in the meetings.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. refused to say yesterday how many bids it received for the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel, a landmark building that was repossessed by federal thrift regulators after its former owners defaulted on a loan for its renovation.Only one bidder, Mount Vernon Properties of Baltimore, is known to have bid on the 440-room hotel, which remains open for business.Larry Dirgo, a Texas-based adviser to Mount Vernon, did not say how much the company bid.Mount Vernon also bid on the 66-year-old Lord Baltimore at an auction in January but was outbid by representatives of the FDIC.

WASHINGTON -- The House, acting with unusual urgency approved a measure yesterday that would permit the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to boost insurance premiums banks pay to the fund that backs deposits at commercial banks.A nearly identical bill has been introduced in the Senate by its Banking Committee chairman, Donald Riegle, D-Mich.By increasing the premiums, the law would raise banks' costs of doing business.

Capital Bank, National Association of Rockville has agreed to assume the deposits and buy nearly all the assets of a Pennsylvania bank that was closed by regulators Thursday, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Pennsylvania regulators closed Public Savings Bank in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., making it the first bank failure in that state this year but the 65th in the nation, the FDIC said. Public Savings had about $45.8 million in deposits and $46.8 million in assets at the end of June.

Investors reacted positively Wednesday to First Mariner Bancorp's efforts to save itself with the help of a New York firm, pushing the Baltimore company's stock price up more than 7 percent. Shares closed at 74 cents, up from 69 cents on Tuesday. The stock — which peaked at $20 a share in 2006 before tanking amid the housing bust and recession — traded as high as nearly 12 percent above the Tuesday closing price for part of Wednesday morning. The 1st Mariner Bank parent announced after markets closed Tuesday that Priam Capital, a New York private investment partnership headed by Baltimore native Howard Feinglass, would take a nearly 25 percent ownership stake in exchange for $36.4 million in much-needed cash . The deal is contingent on the bank raising an additional $123.6 million from other investors.

Friends and readers, I have plenty of vices. For example, I like bad movies and deep fried food, especially with extra cheese. Put a giant screen at a county fair and I'm in heaven. But I have never been able to get excited about playing the lottery --- even when the Mega Millions jackpot hits $312 million . I really did give it a try. I bought tickets once or twice and participated in one or two organized pools when the millions on the billboard visible from an office window hit triple digits.

A former senior vice president at Harbor Bank of Maryland has been banned from banking after allegations that he engaged in unsafe banking practices, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced Friday. David M. Terrance, who also had been a senior lending officer at the Baltimore bank, agreed to the ban without admitting or denying any violations, according to the FDIC. Terrance started at the bank in October 2006 and left in February 2008. Joseph Haskins Jr., chairman and chief executive of Harbor Bank, said the activity in question occurred a couple of years ago. Haskins declined to provide details but said Terrance was found to have established a side business that rewarded him with profits while he made commercial loans for the bank.

The Office of Thrift Supervision on Friday closed Waterfield Bank in Germantown, making it the first bank failure in Maryland this year and the 25th in the nation. The bank, which had one branch and took deposits over the Internet, had $155.6 million in assets at the end of last year. Regulators transferred all insured deposits, except certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts, to a newly created Waterfield Bank FA, a temporary institution where customers can access their funds until April 5. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

More than 10,000 seek extra jobless benefits More than 10,000 Marylanders have applied online for newly available federal unemployment benefits that extend by 14 weeks the time out-of-work residents can collect, the state said Friday. The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation needed time to reconfigure its system to allow people to get the additional payments - which were approved by Congress last month - but said eligible residents can get payments for the weeks beginning Nov. 8 retroactively.

WASHINGTON -- The federal fund that insures bank deposits may be the next to go broke, forcing taxpayers, who already are salvaging the savings and loan industry, to bail out commercial banks, too, the U.S. comptroller general is warning.In testimony to be given today to the Senate Banking Committee, Charles Bowsher says the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s bank insurance fund lacks adequate reserves to cover the banks already likely to fail.The number of failures will rise if the economy falls into a recession, which many economists say has become all but certain because of the oil price shocks triggered by Iraq's seizure of Kuwait.

WASHINGTON -- The outlook for the U.S. bank insurance fund has become more gloomy as real estate markets continue to languish and the economy remains sluggish, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman L. William Seidman said yesterday.In prepared testimony to the House Budget Committee, he said that under the FDIC's "baseline," or middle-of-the-road, projection, the fund will have a surplus of about $3.2 billion at the end of this year but a deficit of $3 billion at the end of 1992. This compares with a January forecast of a $4.1 billion surplus at the end of this year and a $3.6 billion surplus at the end of 1992.

WASHINGTON - Regulators on Friday shut down Republic Federal Bank in Florida, the 131st to succumb so far this year as U.S. banks big and small have been undermined by sour loan portfolios and the battered economy. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Miami-based Republic Federal, with $433 million in assets and $352.7 million in deposits. A bank based in Boca Raton, Fla., 1st United Bank, agreed to assume all the deposits and $267.1 million of the assets of the failed bank. The FDIC will retain the rest for eventual sale.