The news
The Nano Banc failure became the sixth U.S. bank collapse of 2026 when California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) closed the Irvine lender on September 25 and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) as receiver.
The FDIC said it agreed with Sunwest Bank of Sandy, Utah, to assume substantially all of Nano Banc's deposits and buy about $476 million of its assets, with the FDIC keeping the rest for later sale. Nano Banc's single branch reopened as a Sunwest branch on Monday, September 28, and the FDIC said assumed deposits remain federally insured.
As of June 30, Nano Banc reported total assets of $736 million and total deposits of $686 million, according to the FDIC. The agency preliminarily estimates that the failure will cost its Deposit Insurance Fund, the pool banks pay into to protect depositors, about $114 million. Sunwest said it is taking on roughly $605 million in deposits and $227 million in loans.
The DFPI said it seized the bank because it was operating with inadequate capital and in an unsafe and unsound manner. Its shareholders' equity had fallen below a 3% statutory minimum, the regulator said, and the bank had not complied with a March 2026 order. That order came after Nano Banc reported a net loss of roughly $75.3 million and required it to hold tangible shareholders' equity of at least 9.5%.
The bank's problems stretch back years. The DFPI said that starting in 2020 it found significant risk management weaknesses and legal violations, including repeated unauthorized changes to the board and senior management and executive self-dealing. The Federal Reserve took enforcement action in 2022 over governance, compliance and insider trading risks, the DFPI said. Banking Dive reported that the Fed ended that action in April 2025, and that in 2024 it banned a former interim CEO and a onetime board member from banking over fraudulently obtained COVID-era loans.
Sunwest, which says it has more than $5.0 billion in assets and offices in six states, called this its sixth FDIC-assisted acquisition. Carson Lappetito, Sunwest's president and CEO, said the bank was "honored to once again be selected by the FDIC."
The numbers
- Nano Banc total assets, June 30, 2026 (FDIC)
- $736 million
- Nano Banc total deposits, June 30, 2026 (FDIC)
- $686 million
- Assets bought by Sunwest Bank (FDIC)
- About $476 million
- Estimated cost to Deposit Insurance Fund (FDIC, preliminary)
- About $114 million
- Net loss that preceded DFPI's March 2026 order
- Roughly $75.3 million
- U.S. bank failures in 2026 / all of 2025 (FDIC failed bank list, our count)
- 6 / 2
Why CEOs should care
For corporate treasurers, the lesson is concentration. FDIC insurance covers at least $250,000 at each insured bank, and operating balances routinely exceed that. Nano Banc depositors were moved to Sunwest over a weekend, but a smooth handoff is not guaranteed in every failure. Review how much cash sits at any single small or mid-sized bank, whether your policy caps exposure by institution, and whether sweep or multi-bank programs make sense for balances above insured limits.
Trouble at Nano Banc built over years: the DFPI says its concerns date to 2020, and its March 2026 capital order followed a large loss. CFOs and risk teams can set up simple monitoring of their banks' public enforcement orders and quarterly call reports, and ask relationship managers directly about capital levels whenever a new order appears.
Fintech companies that rely on partner banks for accounts, cards or lending should ask the same questions of their sponsors. A partner bank's failure can freeze product launches and force customer migrations on short notice. Contracts should spell out what happens if a partner is acquired or closed, and teams should keep a tested plan for moving programs to another bank.
The bigger picture
The pace has picked up. The FDIC's failed bank list shows six failures with 2026 closing dates, against two in all of 2025 and two in 2024, and Banking Dive reported that Nano Banc is the largest of 2026's failures. On the same day Nano Banc closed, September 25, the FDIC made public a prompt corrective action directive against Oklahoma's Old Glory Bank for being significantly undercapitalized, another sign that regulators are pressing weakly capitalized small banks.
What’s next
The FDIC will sell the Nano Banc assets that Sunwest did not buy, and its final loss could differ from the preliminary $114 million estimate. Watch the FDIC's failed bank list and state regulators' enforcement releases for further small-bank closures through the end of 2026.
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