Death takes no holiday

The biggest institution to be shut down in the pre-Labor Day wave of closings was Vantus Bank, in Sioux City, Iowa. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. arranged for Great Southern Bank, of Springfield, Mo., to take over Vantus' 15 branches and $368 million in deposits.

Great Southern also agreed to buy $387 million of Vantus' $458 million in assets, with $338 million of that amount subject to a loss-sharing arrangement with the FDIC.

The Office of Thrift Supervision closed Platinum Community Bank, in Rolling Meadows, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. Because no buyer could be found, the FDIC is returning all deposits to customers. It arranged for MB Financial Bank to take over Platinum's direct deposits from the federal government, such as Social Security payments, Veterans' payments and other benefit payments.

Platinum had $305 million in deposits and $345.6 million in assets.

Regulators closed a second Chicago-area institution, InBank, of Oak Forest, Ill. The FDIC arranged for MB Financial Bank to take over InBank's three branches, and most of its $199 million in deposits.

MB Financial also bought essentially all of the failed bank's $212 million in assets.

Arizona officials seized First State Bank, in Flagstaff. The FDIC arranged for Sunwest Bank, of Tustin, Calif., to take over First State's six branches and its $95 million in deposits. Sunwest also agreed to buy the bank's $105 million in assets.

The smallest bank to be shuttered on Friday was First Bank of Kansas City, in Kansas City, Mo. It had $15 million in deposits and $16 million in assets. Great American Bank of De Soto, Kan., agreed to take over First Bank's lone branch, and its deposits and assets.