Six U.S. banks failed in 2026, far smaller than 2023

Six U.S. banks closed in 2026 through Sept. 25, one more than in 2023, with combined reported assets of about $1.43 billion compared with roughly $552.54 billion at the banks that failed in 2023, according to FDIC figures. The failures occurred at different times and locations and were linked to bank-specific financial and management problems in regulatory filings and state notices.

The six institutions and their reported assets at or near closure were Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust (Jan. 30, about $261.1 million), Community Bank and Trust – West Georgia (May 1, $288 million), Kentland Federal Savings and Loan Association (July 10, $3.73 million), Small Business Bank (July 17, $73 million), Tioga-Franklin Savings Bank (Aug. 21, $68 million) and Nano Banc (Sept. 25, $736 million). The unrounded sum of those reported figures is about $1.42983 billion.

Regulatory filings and state actions attributed the failures to individual weaknesses. Illinois regulators cited impaired capital and unsafe conditions at Metropolitan Capital. Kansas authorities reported operating losses that exhausted capital at Small Business Bank. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency found unsafe practices and depleted assets at Kentland. Tioga-Franklin had previously been under a consent order for deficiencies in management, capital planning, liquidity and credit administration. California officials described repeated violations at Nano and highlighted its high level of uninsured deposits. The Georgia closure notice for Community Bank and Trust – West Georgia did not include a detailed financial account; the FDIC inspector general has a material loss review under way.

Resolution actions varied. Sunwest Bank agreed to assume most deposits of Nano Banc and purchased about $476 million of Nano’s assets; the FDIC retained remaining assets for disposition and initially estimated a $114 million cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund for that failure. A buyer assumed all deposits at Tioga-Franklin. Officials transferring substantially all insured deposits at Community Bank and Trust – West Georgia said uninsured depositors would receive notices explaining their rights.

The FDIC’s ‘‘problem-bank’’ list provides a snapshot of institutions examiners flagged as weak at a point in time. The regulator reported 47 banks on that list as of June 30, down from 54 in March and 60 at the end of 2025, representing about 1.1% of insured institutions. The FDIC’s second-quarter report showed community banks’ quarterly earnings rose 8.2% and that industry-wide profit reached $90.1 billion, with capital and liquidity described as strong.

Counting failures by number treats each institution equally regardless of size. Kentland, identified by regulators as the smallest standalone bank in the country, held $3.73 million in assets and is counted the same as larger lenders in simple tallies. The asset totals at the failed banks this year and in 2023 use balance sheets from different reporting dates and are not directly comparable as an exact ratio.

Regulatory records attribute the 2026 closures to bank-level problems in public notices and filings. Officials’ statements and regulator reports did not identify a single, broadly applicable cause linking these failures across the industry.