LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Regulators are expected to seize Los Angeles-based California National Bank on Friday in what would be the fourth-largest U.S. bank failure this year, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing unnamed sources.

The Wall Street Journal reported this month that Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp was eyeing an acquisition of Cal National's parent, FBOP Corp: a private group with more than $18 billion in assets that owns eight banks in Texas, Illinois, Arizona and California.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which oversees U.S. banks and safeguards deposits, and U.S. Bancorp officials could not be reached for comment.

U.S. Bancorp is expected to take over Cal National with no losses to depositors, and its branches should re-open as normal Saturday or Monday rebranded U.S. Bank, the newspaper cited people familiar with the matter as saying.

U.S. Bancorp, which has been buying up distressed assets this year, is conducting due diligence now on FBOP and its other banks, the Journal has reported.

A bank official who answered the main number at Cal National's headquarters said they could not talk at the time.

Bank failures in 2009 are at their highest level since 1992, with over 100 banks collapsing. The largest institution to fail in the current financial crisis is Washington Mutual, which boasted assets of $307 billion when it was shuttered in September 2008.

Does anybody know if there are any particular publicly traded holding companies buying (gobbling) up some of these banks?

The FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with U.S. Bank, NA, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, to assume all of the deposits and essentially all of the assets of nine failed banks. The nine banks were closed this evening by federal and state bank regulators, which appointed the FDIC as receiver.

Plus another one. A big one!
Bank Closing Information - November 6, 2009
United Commercial Bank, San Francisco, CA
$11.2 billion in assets including some in China.

As of October 23, 2009, United Commercial Bank had total assets of $11.2 billion and total deposits of approximately $7.5 billion. East West Bank paid the FDIC a premium of 1.1 percent for the right to assume all of the deposits of United Commercial Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, East West Bank agreed to purchase approximately $10.2 billion in assets of the failed bank. As part of the purchase and assumption agreement, the FDIC transferred to East West Bank all qualified financial contracts to which United Commercial Bank was a party and those contracts remain in full force and effect.

The FDIC and East West Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $7.7 billion of United Commercial Bank's assets. East West Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share arrangement is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector.

Park National Bank of Chicago received $50 million in tax credits to encourage investment in poor communities at an Oct. 30 ceremony attended by Geithner. Hours later, though, it was seized along with eight other banks around the country that formed part of a holding company called FBOP Corp. and sold to U.S. Bancorp (USB Quote).

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $615 million. IBERIABANK's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the DIF compared to alternatives. Orion Bank is the 122nd FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the eleventh in Florida. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Century Bank, Sarasota, FL, earlier today.

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $23.6 million. ... Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida is the 124th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the twelfth in Florida.