Sunwest buys failed bank’s assets

Feb. 04--Sunwest Bank, based in Irvine, has acquired the assets and deposits of a small Idaho bank closed by regulators on Friday.

The Idaho Department of Finance closed Syringa Bank on Jan. 31 and made the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. the bank's receiver. Sunwest agreed to pay the FDIC a premium of 0.75 percent to assume all of Syringa's deposits and agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets.

The six former Syringa Bank branches reopened Monday as part of Sunwest.

Syringa Bank had about $153.4 million in total assets and $145.1 million in total deposits as of Sept 30. The FDIC estimated that the bank failure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund$4.5 million.

Sunwest had total assets of more than $677 million at the end of 2013 and deposits of nearly $532 million.

"We are excited to expand our footprint and continue the community bank tradition in Idaho," said Sunwest Bank's President and CEO Chris Walsh.

Sunwest is a community bank with locations in Southern California, Arizona, Washington state and now Idaho.

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Contact the writer: musheroff@ocregister.com or 714-796-7920

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