Failed Bank List

Closed Friday, December 8, 1989 · Somerset, Union County, New Jersey

City Federal Savings Bank

By total assets City Federal Savings Bank is the 19th-largest of the 3,375 bank failures since 1934 for which the FDIC records a size, counted in dollars of the day. No failed bank in New Jersey was larger, of 98 on record there since 1934. Its estimated cost to the Resolution Trust Corporation makes it the 21st-costliest failure on FDIC record since 1934.

On the books, 1984 to 1989

Total assets and equity capital each quarter before closing, and the estimated lossTotal assetsEquity capitalEstimated loss$0$3B$6B$9B$12B19851986198719881989Closed
Total assets peaked at $10.8 billion in the third quarter of 1988 and were 9% lower at the final report. Equity capital stayed close to 1% of assets from the first quarter of 1984 to the last report. The deepest annual loss, $236 million, was booked in 1989 in only part of the year.
Net income in each reporting year before closing, with equity capital as a share of assets at year endNet income per yearEquity to assets at year end$240M−$240M1984: $68.8 million19843.8%1985: $60.4 million19853.9%1986: $38.2 million19863.2%1987: $12.0 million19873.2%1988: −$25.4 million19883.0%1989: −$236 million1989*0.8%
* 1989: January to September only, the last report before closing.

Size against the other 1989 failures

Total assets of the 530 banks that failed in 1989, log scale$1M$10M$100M$1B$10B$100B
Total assets of each 1989 failure, log scale; City Federal Savings Bank in red.

It was the second-largest of the 530 bank failures in 1989. In the size ranking of that year, just above it was Gibraltar Savings of Simi Valley, California ($13.4 billion, loss 0.7% of assets); just below, MBank Dallas, National Association of Dallas, Texas ($6.6 billion, loss 25% of assets). Every 1989 failure in the explorer.

Three other banks closed that day; the largest was Atlantic Permanent Savings Bank FSB of Norfolk, Virginia, at $581 million.

Failures in New Jersey

It was one of five banks in New Jersey to fail in 1989. The previous failure there was Colonial Savings Bank, SLA of Roselle Park, on November 9, 1989. The next was First Atlantic Savings and Loan Association of Plainfield, on February 23, 1990. Union County has 5 failed banks on FDIC record since 1934. The others: Colonial Savings Bank, SLA (1989), First Atlantic Savings and Loan Association (1990), First BankAmericano (2009), First State Bank (2011).

Bank failures in New Jersey per year, 1980 to 202604812161983: 11987: 11989: 51990: 141991: 161992: 102004: 12009: 22010: 12011: 12012: 12017: 12019: 119801990200020102020
Per year since 1980, 1989 in red. Every New Jersey failure

FDIC certificate 28406 · loss estimate as of July 31, 2026 · How to read this page