Florida Bank Goes Under, Lifting Tally to 23

Federal regulators shuttered a Florida bank Friday, raising the national bank failure tally so far this year to 23.

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The ""Office of the Comptroller of the Currency"":http://www.occ.treas.gov/ (OCC) closed the North Lauderdale-based Security Bank, National Association, and appointed the ""FDIC"":http://www.fdic.gov/ receiver.

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The financial institution went under with $101 million in total assets and $99.1 million in total deposits.

Coral Gables-based ""Banesco USA"":http://www.banescousa.com/ assumed all of the deposits of Security Bank and purchased essentially all of its assets by entering into a purchase-and-assumption agreement with the FDIC. Three branches also reopened Monday under the Banesco brand.

Rafael Saldana, president and CEO of Banesco, welcomed Security Bank customers in a statement. ""As a local bank with a solid history in South Florida, we are strongly focused on financial strength, relationships and service that exceeds our customers' expectations,"" he said.

The costs to the agency's Deposit Insurance Fund totaled $10.8 million, a fact the FDIC said marked ""the least costly resolution"" for it this year.

Bank failures continue to dwindle this year in comparison with failures in recent years. Ninety-two institutions went under last year, an improvement from 157 in 2010.