US First Republic Bank to close down in May

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco-based First Republic Bank will close down on May 24 after the remaining 62 branches of the bank complete takeover by JPMorgan Chase, media reported on Monday.

Customers will be alerted by mail that their First Republic accounts will convert to JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank, over Memorial Day weekend, the bank has confirmed.

Launched in San Francisco in 1985, First Republic Bank failed in 2023. By last September, 22 of its 84 locations had closed, including 12 in the San Francisco Bay Area.

When interest rates started to rise in the country in 2022 and 2023, First Republic's credit was downgraded and its once high-flying stock crashed, wiping out investors.

The failure made it the second largest bank collapse in US history, after Washington Mutual in 2008.