Metropolitan Capital Bank Fails, Becomes First U.S. Bank Collapse of 2026

Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust was closed on February 2, 2026, by Illinois regulators due to “unsafe and unsound conditions” and an impaired capital position, marking the first U.S. bank failure of the year. The FDIC was named receiver and struck a deal with Detroit-based First Independence Bank, which reopened the institution on February 5, assuming substantially all $212 million in deposits and purchasing $251 million of its $261 million in assets. The FDIC estimates the failure will cost its Deposit Insurance Fund $19.7 million, though the final tally depends on the sale of retained assets. Metropolitan, founded in 2005 as a boutique Universal Bank focused on small- to medium-sized businesses, operated from Chicago’s River North neighborhood. This marks the second consecutive year a Chicago bank has been the nation’s first to fail, following Pulaski Savings Bank’s collapse in January 2025.