Republic First Bancorp

Not to be confused with First Republic Bank or First Republic Bank Corporation.

Republic First Bancorp, Inc., doing business as Republic Bank, was a Philadelphia-based bank from 1988–2024.

Republic First Bancorp, Inc.

Company type	Public
Traded as	Expert Market: FRBKQ Nasdaq: FRBK (1988–2023)
Industry	Retail banking
Founded	1988; 37 years ago (1988)
Defunct	April 26, 2024; 16 months ago (2024-04-26)
Fate	Failed
Successors	Fulton Bank (acquisition of most Republic First Bancorp assets)
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Key people	Vernon Hill (chairman)
Website	myrepublicbank.com

History

In 2008, the bank shifted from commercial banking to retail banking. In 2016, the bank named Commerce Bank founder Vernon Hill as chairman.^[1] In 2016, Republic Bank operated 20 locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.^[2]

Receivership

On April 26, 2024, U.S. regulators seized Republic First Bancorp after business hours and agreed to sell it to Fulton Bank. The bank was seized by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities after failed funding talks with a group of investors. The FDIC, appointed as a receiver, said Fulton Bank, a unit of Fulton Financial Corp., will assume substantially all deposits and purchase all the assets of Republic Bank to "protect depositors".^[3]

On September 5, 2024, Republic First Bancorp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Republic First Bank itself is not part of the filing since they were sold off before the filing.^[4]