Western Commercial Bank, Woodland Hills, California

Western Commercial Bank, Woodland Hills, California, is the 141st FDIC insured institution to fail in 2010. The agency estimates that the hit to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $25.2 million.

Western Commercial Bank, Woodland Hills, California, was closed today by the California Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with First California Bank, Westlake Village, California, to assume all of the deposits of Western Commercial Bank.

The sole branch of Western Commercial Bank will reopen on Monday as a branch of First California Bank. Depositors of Western Commercial Bank will automatically become depositors of First California Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of Western Commercial Bank should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from First California Bank that it has completed systems changes to allow other First California Bank branches to process their accounts as well.

This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Western Commercial Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

As of September 30, 2010, Western Commercial Bank had approximately $98.6 million in total assets and $101.1 million in total deposits. First California Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of 0.5 percent to assume all of the deposits of Western Commercial Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, First California Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets.

The FDIC and First California Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $83.9 million of Western Commercial Bank’s assets. First California Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share transaction is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The transaction also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit:http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.

Customers who have questions about today’s transaction can call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-405-6318. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (PDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., PDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time (PST; and thereafter from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., PST.

If you should have any further questions, please do not hesitate to visit the FDIC webpage for Western Commercial Bank.