Georgia sees 1st bank failure in nearly a decade

LaGrange, Georgia-based Community Bank & Trust - West Georgia's failure is the first in the Peach State in about 10 years.

The Community Bankshares Inc. subsidiary became the second US bank to fail in 2026, matching the total number of bank failures in each of the previous two years. With $288.2 million in total assets as of Dec. 31, 2025, Community Bank & Trust - West Georgia is also the largest bank to fail since Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank's collapse in April 2024.

The combined assets of this year's two failed banks totaled approximately $523.7 million, higher than the $126.4 million aggregate in 2025, but lower than the full-year 2024 total of $5.98 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Community Bank & Trust - West Georgia is also the first bank to fail in the state of Georgia since Woodbury Banking Co.'s collapse in August 2016.

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed Community Bank & Trust - West Georgia on May 1 and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver, according to a press release.

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-based Anchor Bank, a subsidiary of Anchor Bancorp Inc., signed an agreement with the FDIC to assume substantially all insured deposits and acquire certain assets of Community Bank & Trust - West Georgia.

– Download a template to view a list of bank failures in the US since 1998. – Download a template to generate a bank's regulatory profile. – View an interactive list of failed banks.

Community Bank & Trust - West Georgia had approximately $268.3 million in deposits as of Dec. 31, 2025. Of this, around $27 million exceeded FDIC insurance limits, according to the agency, but that amount could change as the FDIC obtains more information. The FDIC estimated that the failure will cost the deposit insurance fund around $97 million, but that figure could also change over time as retained assets are sold.

Earlier in January, Community Bank & Trust - West Georgia entered a consent order with the FDIC over alleged "unsafe or unsound banking practices and/or violations of law or regulation relating to weaknesses in management, asset quality, capital, earnings, liquidity/funding and sensitivity to market risk."

Last month, the Federal Reserve Board and the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance issued a consent cease and desist order with the bank's holding company, Community Bankshares, related to alleged deficiencies in its growth strategy pursuit, board oversight, capital and compliance with rules connected with affiliate transactions.

Community Bank & Trust - West Georgia had the US banking industry's third-highest adjusted Texas ratio through the fourth quarter of 2025, at 153.5%. Chicago-based Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust, which failed in January, also had a Texas ratio above 100% in the quarter prior to its collapse.