Sunwest assumes Nano Banc's deposits in a failure the FDIC expects to cost $114 million
Sunwest Bank took on failed Nano Banc's deposits and bought about $476 million of its assets, leaving roughly $260 million with the FDIC to sell later. What the Utah lender really bought depends on whether the Irvine bank's business accounts stay after conversion.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- California regulators tied the closure to significant losses, failure to comply with an enforcement order and a multiyear history of management problems.
- The FDIC announced the failure on Friday, making Nano the sixth US bank to fail in 2026, after two failures in each of 2024 and 2025.
- Sunwest's chief executive said this is the sixth FDIC-assisted acquisition the Utah bank has completed.
Why it matters
- What it costs cost The Deposit Insurance Fund bears the estimated $114 million loss, and the final bill can move as the FDIC sells the assets it kept.
- Who's exposed exposure Nano's business customers now rely on a lender they did not choose to carry over the payroll, supplier-payment and check-deposit services they set up at Nano.
- Who has to decide decision Sunwest assumed about $210 million more in deposits than it bought in assets, so what it gains is a deposit base that holds its value only if the business accounts stay.
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Add the FDIC's two asset figures and you get $736 million. That is the whole balance sheet Nano reported at June 30 [14][16][1][20]. The agency is holding about 35% of it [23]. The deposit side is bigger than the assets Sunwest bought. Nano reported $686 million of deposits at mid-year. If balances stayed near that level until the closing, Sunwest took on roughly $210 million more in deposits than it bought in assets [1][22]. The FDIC estimates the failure will cost its insurance fund $114 million, or about 15.5 cents for every dollar of those June assets [15][21]. What Sunwest took on is a book of business operating accounts. Nano called itself a "community based business bank," and its customers used it for online banking, remote deposit capture, ACH origination and wires [10]. Larger lenders have measured how much business banking runs through the operating account. KeyCorp said 82% of its commercial deposit balances sat in operating accounts, and that about 91% of its commercial loans went to customers who also used it for deposits, payments or capital-markets services [12]. Regions said the share of its customers using treasury management rose from 57% to more than 66% over roughly five years [13]. The transfer took a weekend. The FDIC announced the failure on Friday. Depositors became Sunwest customers automatically and kept access to their funds without interruption, and the single Irvine branch reopens Monday under Sunwest's name [6][2][8]. PYMNTS called the failure "a real-world test of what happens to technology-enabled commercial banking relationships when the institution providing them fails" [19]. So far the public record shows the deposits and the branch moving. It does not show whether Nano's ACH origination, check-capture and wire setups moved onto Sunwest's systems without a gap. Sunwest sells itself to businesses on integrations with their accounting, ERP, receivables, payables and payment-processing systems [4]. Nano's collapse also tells us little about whether a one-branch business bank that leans on technology carries more risk. California regulators blamed significant financial losses, a deteriorating financial condition, failure to comply with an enforcement order and a multiyear history of management problems and regulatory violations [3]. American Banker's account of the bank's history includes a December 2021 cease-and-desist from the state's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation [9]. PYMNTS wrote that the failure "does not establish that the model created additional risk" [11]. For Sunwest the deal is modest. The Sandy, Utah, lender describes itself as a privately held commercial bank with more than $4 billion in assets, so the $476 million it bought is at most about 12% of that [5][24]. It has done this before. "We are honored to once again be selected by the FDIC as the acquiring institution of an FDIC-assisted acquisition, marking the sixth time Sunwest Bank has completed such a transaction," said Carson Lappetito, Sunwest's president and CEO [17]. Buyers with that record may get more chances. Nano is the sixth failure of 2026. That is three times the full-year count for 2024 and again for 2025, and compares with five in 2023 and none in 2021 or 2022 [6][7][25]. "From a top-down view the industry looks very strong. When you start looking from the bottom up, it changes," American Banker's column on the failure said [18]. The deal can go three ways. In the first, Sunwest keeps Nano's operating accounts and ends up with a business deposit base without the assets the FDIC kept. In the second, treasurers use the forced move to shop their banking elsewhere and the balances drift away. In the third, the retained assets sell poorly and the $114 million estimate rises; the agency says that figure is subject to later adjustment [15][16]. I think the first is likeliest, because a business whose payments have just been moved once has little reason to move them again soon.
What to watch
- Sunwest's notice to former Nano customers on when ACH origination, remote deposit capture and wire services move onto its own systems.
- A seventh US bank failure in 2026, and whether the FDIC again sells it to a repeat acquirer such as Sunwest.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+8
- Incentives30
- Confidence60
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Nano Banc, an Irvine, California, commercial bank, reported $686 million in deposits and $736 million in assets as of June 30.
- [2]
Nano's sole Irvine branch will reopen Monday, Sept. 28, as a Sunwest branch, and Nano depositors automatically became Sunwest depositors, according to the FDIC.
- [3]
California regulators attributed Nano's closure to significant financial losses, deteriorating financial condition, failure to comply with an enforcement order and a multiyear history of management problems and regulatory violations.
- [4]
Sunwest serves businesses through commercial lending, treasury management and technology integrations that connect banking with accounting, ERP, accounts receivable, accounts payable and payment-processing systems.
- [5]
Sunwest Bank is based in Sandy, Utah, and describes itself on LinkedIn as "a privately held commercial bank with more than $4 billion in assets."
- [6]
The FDIC announced Nano Banc's failure on Friday; it is the sixth bank failure of 2026, compared with two failures in each of 2024 and 2025.
- [7]
There were five bank failures in 2023, including Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic, and none in 2022 or 2021.
- [8]
Nano depositors will have access to their funds without interruption.
- [9]
In December 2021, California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation issued a cease-and-desist, according to American Banker's account of Nano's history.
- [10]
Nano described itself as a "community based business bank" and offered businesses online banking, remote deposit capture and treasury-management services including ACH origination and wire transfers; it also made commercial real estate, commercial and industrial and small business loans.
- [11]
PYMNTS wrote that Nano's failure "does not establish that the model created additional risk."
- [12]
KeyCorp said about 91% of its commercial loans were to customers that also used the bank for deposits, payments or capital-markets services, and 82% of its commercial deposit balances were held in operating accounts.
- [13]
Regions said the proportion of its customers using treasury-management services rose from 57% to more than 66% over roughly five years.
- [14]
"Sunwest Bank agreed to assume substantially all deposits at the time of closing. It will also purchase approximately $476 million of the failed bank's assets," the FDIC wrote in a release. "The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition."
- [15]
The FDIC estimates the failure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund $114 million, a figure subject to later adjustments.
- [16]
The FDIC will retain roughly $260 million of Nano Banc's assets for later disposition.
- [17]
"We are honored to once again be selected by the FDIC as the acquiring institution of an FDIC-assisted acquisition, marking the sixth time Sunwest Bank has completed such a transaction," said Carson Lappetito, President and CEO of Sunwest Bank.
- [18]
"From a top-down view the industry looks very strong. When you start looking from the bottom up, it changes," American Banker's column said.
- [19]
PYMNTS wrote that Nano Banc's failure provides "a real-world test of what happens to technology-enabled commercial banking relationships when the institution providing them fails."
- [20]
The assets Sunwest is buying plus the assets the FDIC is retaining sum to about $736 million, Nano's total reported assets at June 30.
- [21]
The estimated $114 million cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund is about 15.5 cents per dollar of Nano's June 30 assets.
- [22]
Nano's June 30 deposits exceed the assets Sunwest is buying by about $210 million.
- [23]
The FDIC is retaining about 35% of Nano's June 30 assets.
- [24]
The $476 million of assets Sunwest is buying equals at most about 12% of Sunwest's own assets of more than $4 billion.
- [25]
Six failures in 2026 is three times the full-year count of two in each of 2024 and 2025.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- americanbanker.comEmbattled California bank is latest to fail
2 articles · September 28, 2026
- pymnts.comNano Banc Failure Tests Banking Beyond the Branch
1 article · September 28, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Deposit Insurance
- Treasury management
Entities
- Regions Financial
- Carson Lappetito
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
- Anthony R. Gressak III