LibertyPointe Bank, New York, New York, was closed Thursday by the New York State Banking Department.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named as receiver.

To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Valley National Bank, Wayne, New Jersey, to assume all of the deposits of LibertyPointe Bank.

The three branches of LibertyPointe Bank, including its headquarters at 120 Broadway, New York City, reopened Friday as branches of Valley National Bank. Depositors of LibertyPointe Bank will automatically become depositors of Valley National Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage, the FDIC said in a statement. LibertyPointe Bank customers should continue to use their existing branches until they receive notice from Valley National Bank that it has completed systems changes to allow other Valley National Bank branches to process their accounts as well, the statement said.

Depositors of LibertyPointe Bank, which was established in 2005, can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

As of December 31, 2009, LibertyPointe Bank had approximately $209.7 million in total assets and $209.5 million in total deposits.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $24.8 million.