Failed Bank List

Closed Wednesday, June 14, 1989 · Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona

Western Savings and Loan Association

By total assets Western Savings and Loan Association is the 36th-largest of the 3,375 bank failures since 1934 for which the FDIC records a size, counted in dollars of the day. Its estimated cost to the Resolution Trust Corporation makes it the 12th-costliest failure on FDIC record since 1934. Of the 44 failed banks on record in Arizona since 1934, it ranks second by size.

On the books, 1984 to 1989

Total assets and equity capital each quarter before closing, and the estimated lossTotal assetsEquity capitalEstimated loss$0$2B$4B$6B$8B1985198619871988Closed
Total assets peaked at $6.4 billion in the first quarter of 1988 and were 12% lower at the final report. Equity capital went from 2.6% of assets in the first quarter of 1984 to below zero at the last report. By then 16% of its loans were 90 days or more past due or no longer accruing interest. The deepest annual loss, $202 million, was booked in 1988.
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: $13.1 million19842.1%1985: $36.6 million19852.2%1986: $30.2 million19862.3%1987: $33.4 million19871.9%1988: −$202 million1988neg.1989: −$99.8 million1989*neg.
* 1989: January to March 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; Western Savings and Loan Association in red.

By assets it ranked fourth of the 530 failures in 1989. In the size ranking of that year, just above it was MBank Dallas, National Association of Dallas, Texas ($6.6 billion, loss 25% of assets); just below, Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, California ($4.9 billion, loss 65% of assets). Every 1989 failure in the explorer.

The only other bank closed that day was Sun State Savings and Loan Association of Phoenix, Arizona.

Failures in Arizona

In 1989 regulators closed 11 banks in Arizona; this was the fifth. The previous failure there was Grand Canyon State Bank of Scottsdale, on May 19, 1989. The next was Fidelity Bank of Scottsdale, on July 21, 1989. Maricopa County has 35 failed banks on FDIC record since 1934. Closest in time: Grand Canyon State Bank (1989), Sun State Savings and Loan Association (1989), Fidelity Bank (1989), Liberty Bank (1989), National Bank of Arizona (1989).

Bank failures in Arizona per year, 1980 to 20260369121981: 11988: 21989: 111990: 81991: 21992: 32002: 12009: 52010: 42011: 32013: 319801990200020102020
Per year since 1980, 1989 in red. Every Arizona failure

FDIC certificate 28597 · loss estimate as of July 31, 2026 · How to read this page