Anatomy of a bank failure: When the liquidators come calling

Damian Paletta
Wall Street Journal
Sunday, June 8, 2008

STAPLES, Minn. — At 7 p.m. on Friday, Mayor Chris Etzler walked through the back door of First Integrity Bank. The lobby should have been closed for the weekend, but dozens of strangers in dark suits were bustling about with laptops and file boxes. Someone had just delivered 32 pizzas.

Dan Walker, a top official with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a Washington, D.C., bank regulator, had summoned Etzler to explain what was going on: The FDIC had just taken over First Integrity.

“All the deposits are safe,â€