SCBT assumes deposits of Georgia bank

South Carolina Bank and Trust of Columbia has assumed all the deposits of Habersham Bank of Clarksville, Ga., which was seized by regulators late Friday.

Habersham, which had nearly $390 million in assets, was closed by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as receiver. The FDIC then entered into a purchase-and-assumption agreement with SCBT to assume all of the deposits and nearly all of the assets of Habersham Bank.

The eight affected branches will reopen beginning Saturday as branches of Habersham Bank, a division of SCBT, according to information released by the FDIC.

As of Dec. 31, 2010, Habersham Bank, founded in 1904, had approximately $340 million in total deposits.

The FDIC and SCBT entered into a loss-share transaction on $270.7 million of Habersham Bank’s assets, according to the FDIC. SCBT 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 FDIC estimates that the cost of the deal to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $90.3 million. Compared to other alternatives, SCBT’s acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC’s.

Habersham Bank is the 19th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the fifth in Georgia.