FDIC

When small regional banks across the US falter, a federal task force can shut them down. The last financial crisis led to 157 bank failures by 2010. The following images document the process of auctioning off a failed bank. FDIC officials accept bids for the acquisition one week. By the following Friday evening, just as the last customer exits, members of the FDIC's closing task force made up of auditors, lawyers and IT personnel surprise employees with orders to close the bank, greet the new ownership, and ready themselves for an overnight audit before reopening the following morning under a new name.