First Republic seized by US regulators, to be sold to JPMorgan

First Republic Bank was taken over by regulators and will be acquired by JPMorgan Chase after rescue efforts failed to undo the damage from wrong-way investments and depositor runs that have roiled regional lenders.

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NEW YORK - JPMorgan will take over First Republic's assets, including about US$173 billion (S$230 billion) of loans and US$30 billion of securities, as well as US$92 billion in deposits.

JPMorgan and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), which orchestrated the sale, agreed to share the burden of losses, as well as any recoveries, on the firm's single-family and commercial loans, the agency said on Monday.

"Our government invited us and others to step up and we did," JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon said in a statement. "Our financial strength, capabilities and business model allowed us to develop a bid to execute the transaction in a way to minimise costs to the Deposit Insurance Fund." The transaction makes JPMorgan, the nation's largest bank, even more massive an outcome government officials have taken pains to avoid in the past.

Because of United States regulatory restrictions, JPMorgan's size and its existing share of the US deposit base would prevent it, under normal circumstances, from expanding its deposit base further.

And prominent Democratic lawmakers and the Biden administration have chafed at consolidation in the financial industry and other sectors.