Heartland Tri-State Bank closed by U.S. regulators

NEW YORK, July 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. federal regulators closed Heartland Tri-State Bank after it failed on Friday, the fifth bank failure in the country this year.

The bank, located in Elkhart, the state of Kansas, was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), according to an FDIC announcement.

The FDIC said it had entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Dream First Bank of Syracuse, Kansas, to assume all of Heartland Tri-State Bank's deposits.

The four branches of Heartland Tri-State Bank will reopen as branches of Dream First Bank on Monday, according to the FDIC.

Dream First Bank also agreed to buy essentially all of Heartland Tri-State Bank's failed assets.

Heartland Tri-State Bank is the fifth U.S. bank failure this year, following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic Bank and Silvergate Bank.

A string of the U.S. bank failures that started in March this year has triggered financial market turmoil and shaken up the banking industry, prompting lawmakers to introduce new legislation to protect customer deposits and stabilize the financial system.

Heartland Tri-State Bank reportedly had been grappling with mounting financial challenges before its ultimate failure.

Founded in 1985, the bank had approximately 139 million U.S. dollars in total assets and 130 million dollars in total deposits.