MetroBank, South Florida's community bank since 1984, was closed down on Friday by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was appointed as receiver.

The shut-down follows a directive given last month by the Federal Reserve, on June 15, which gave the troubled bank 30 days to boost its capital, possibly by selling shares or merging with another bank.

Based in Miami, MetroBank had four branches in Miami-Dade County and two in Broward County, one on Nob Hill Road in Fort Lauderdale, the other on North Federal Highway in Pompano Beach. The bank lost nearly $10 million in the March 31 2010 quarter and almost $25 million last year, according to financial filings.

The failing of MetroBank was somewhat surprising as the bank never participated in any of the sub-prime lending which has been a root cause for the failure of many U.S. banks. Additionally, the bank had no exotic, volatile investments that required other institutions to take substantial market write-downs; 100% of the bank’s investment portfolio was in U.S. Government-backed securities with no risk as to principal or interest.

Nonetheless delinquent real estate loans and commercial lending were enough to push the bank over the edge.

To protect MetroBank depositors, the FDIC says it has entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with NAFH National Bank, of Miami, Florida, a newly-chartered bank subsidiary of North American Financial Holdings, Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina, to assume all the deposits and essentially all the assets of the failed institution.

MetroBank's 6 branches will reopen as branches of NAFH National Bank using its current name and under its normal business hours. Depositors will automatically become depositors of NAFH National Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage, an FDIC statement released Friday said.

Customers of MetroBank should continue to use their former branches. Over the weekend, depositors can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards.

As of March 31, 2010, Metro Bank of Dade County had total assets of $442.3 million and total deposits of $391.3 million. NAFH National Bank did not pay the FDIC a premium for the deposits.

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) for Metro Bank of Dade County will be $67.6 million.