Some Foreign Banks Are Picking Up Failed US Banks

Seven more banks failed last Friday bringing the total number of bank failures in the U.S. to 57 so far this year. While most of the failed banks are acquired by other strong domestic banks, a few foregin banks are gettting into the game.

From a Wall Street Journal article titled “Foreign firms sccop up failed US banks” last week:

“Toronto-Dominion Bank of Canada bought three Florida banks that failed last Friday, while Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired one in California. The four purchases increase the number of failed U.S. banks scooped up by non-U.S. banks to seven since the start of 2009. A total of 190 banks have been seized by regulators, including 50 so far this year, most of which have been bought.

International buyers are lured to broken financial institutions because, like U.S. banks, they think the worst is over for the battered U.S. banking industry. First-quarter earnings reports are adding to optimism that loan losses have peaked, even though lenders still are grappling with high loan-default rates and suffering real-estate portfolios.”

With the purchase of above three banks, TD Bank now has 103 branches in Florida. Unlike TD, the other four large Canadian banks do not seem to be interested in expanding their footprint further in the US market.

On a related note, here is an interesting chart on the growth of banking sector profits:

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