Wisconsin bank closed by OCC

Northwestern Financial Review, Jun 1-Jun 14, 2003

The First National Bank of Blanchardville, Wis., became the second bank in 2003 to fail when the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed the institution on May 9. The Park Bank, Madison, Wis., purchased the failed bank's assets and liabilities, and opened the Blanchardville facility on May 12 as its eighth office.

It was the first bank failure in Wisconsin since 1986. Harry Argue of the Wisconsin Bankers Association called the Blanchardville closing "an isolated incident."

First National Bank of Blanchardville, founded in 1917, had assets of $35 million and deposits of $29 million when it was closed. Regulators offered no estimate for the amount of deposits that exceeded FDIC insurance limits. It is also not known what impact, if any, the closing, will have on the Bank Insurance Fund.

Park National Bank, founded in 1966, had assets of $272.6 million, according to its 2002 year-end call report. It had a return on assets of 1.28 percent for the year, and return on equity of 16.97 percent. It had an equity-to-capital ratio of 7.79 percent.

The First National Bank of Blanchardville grew in assets, from $21.6 million at year-end 2001, to $29.8 million at year-end 2002, to $35 million at closing. Its 2002 year-end call report showed net income for 2002 of $447,000, with ROA of 1.75 percent and ROE of 22.85 percent. The Blanchardville facility was the bank's only office.