On Friday, the FDIC quietly announced that Republic Bank had been seized and a sale to Fulton Bank had already been arranged.  Have you noticed that they often try to announce bad news like this on Friday?  By the time news of the failure of Republic Bank broke, many people had already started their weekends.  And the FDIC probably assumes that most people will have forgotten all about this by the time Monday morning rolls around.  But this was a big deal, and it is inevitable that more dominoes will soon start to fall.

At the time it was seized, Republic Bank had 32 branches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.  The following comes directly from the FDIC announcement that was issued on Friday…

Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank (doing business as Republic Bank) was closed today by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect depositors, the FDIC entered into an agreement with Fulton Bank, National Association of Lancaster, Pennsylvania to assume substantially all of the deposits and purchase substantially all of the assets of Republic Bank.

Republic Bank's 32 branches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York will reopen as branches of Fulton Bank on Saturday (for branches with normal Saturday hours) or on Monday during normal business hours. This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Republic Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on Republic Bank will continue to be processed and loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.