FDIC to open satellite office in the Southeast

In another sign of times - and possibly of things to come - the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is opening a temporary office in Jacksonville, Fla., to help liquidate the assets of failed banks.

The FDIC said the office would employ as many as 500 people and would deal primarily with the remains of seized financial institutions in the eastern United States.

The FDIC uses the temporary offices during times of economic crisis to keep its asset-resolution workers in closer proximity to the failed banks they are overseeing.

Of the 32 banks that have closed this year, six have been in Georgia and two have been in Florida. Six additional banks in those states were seized in the second half of 2008.

The FDIC said it expects to move into its leased offices in Jacksonville in September.