Failed Bank List

Closed Friday, January 25, 1991 · Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California

Columbia Savings and Loan Association

By total assets Columbia Savings and Loan Association is the 37th-largest of the 3,375 bank failures since 1934 for which the FDIC records a size, counted in dollars of the day. No bank took over its deposits: the FDIC paid insured depositors directly. Its assets had shrunk 55% from their peak in the second quarter of 1989 by the last report before closing.

On the books, 1984 to 1990

Total assets and equity capital each quarter before closing, and the estimated lossTotal assetsEquity capitalEstimated loss$0$3B$6B$9B$12B198519861987198819891990Closed
Total assets peaked at $11.8 billion. Equity capital went from 2.4% of assets in the first quarter of 1984 to below zero at the last report. The deepest annual loss, $1.2 billion, was booked in 1990.
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$1.6B−$1.6B1984: $43.5 million19842.4%1985: $122 million19854.2%1986: $194 million19866.0%1987: $119 million19876.1%1988: $65.0 million19885.8%1989: −$591 million19890.8%1990: −$1.2 billion1990neg.

Size against the other 1991 failures

Total assets of the 268 banks that failed in 1991, log scale$1M$10M$100M$1B$10B$100B
Total assets of each 1991 failure, log scale; Columbia Savings and Loan Association in red.

By assets it ranked seventh of the 268 failures in 1991. Within California it ranks 12th by size of the 239 failures recorded since 1934. Ranked by estimated loss, it is 187th of 2,944 failures since 1934. In the size ranking of that year, just above it was Sunbelt Savings, FSB of Irving, Texas ($6.0 billion, loss under 0.1% of assets); just below, Far West Savings and Loan Association of Newport Beach, California ($3.7 billion, loss 13% of assets). Every 1991 failure in the explorer.

Regulators closed five banks that day. The largest of the others was Trustbank Savings, F.S.B. of Tysons Corner, Virginia, at $1.8 billion.

Failures in California

In 1991 regulators closed 21 banks in California; this was the fourth. The previous failure there was Beach Savings Bank of Fountain Valley, on January 18, 1991. The next was Unity Savings and Loan Association of Beverly Hills, on February 8, 1991. Los Angeles County has 87 failed banks on FDIC record since 1934. Closest in time: Liberty Federal Bank, F.S.B. (1990), Malibu Savings Bank (1991), Unity Savings and Loan Association (1991), Manilabank California (1991), Executive Bank, F.S.B. (1991).

Bank failures in California per year, 1980 to 2026081624321982: 21983: 61984: 71985: 111986: 171987: 121988: 31989: 281990: 211991: 211992: 181993: 241994: 101995: 51996: 21999: 12000: 12003: 12008: 52009: 172010: 122011: 42012: 12014: 12023: 22026: 119801990200020102020
Per year since 1980, 1991 in red. Every California failure

FDIC certificate 31062 · loss estimate as of July 31, 2026 · How to read this page