Mar. 13, 2010 (United Press International) -- WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- The closing of three small banks in Louisiana, Florida and New York brings to 30 the number of U.S. banks closed so far this year, regulators said. In all, 195 U.S. banks have failed since just after the official start of the recession in December 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. Friday, state regulators closed Statewide Bank, of Covington, La., Park Avenue Bank in New York City and Old Southern Bank, of Orlando, Fla. Park Avenue had assets of $520.1 million and deposits of $494.5 million at the end of 2009, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. The bank's deposits and nearly all of its assets were assumed by Valley National Bank, based in Wayne, N.J. The FDIC said it agreed to share in losses on $379.8 million in assets sold to Valley National Bank. Old Southern Bank had assets of $315.6 million and deposits of $319.7 million. The assets were sold to Centennial Bank, based in Conway, Ark. with the FDIC agreeing to share in losses on $282.7 million. Statewide had assets of $243.2 million and deposits of $208.8 million. Nearly all of the deposits and most of the assets were assumed by Home Bank of Lafayette, La., with the FDIC sharing in losses on $163.5 million of the assets. BRUSSELS, March 13 (UPI) -- European Union ministers are nearing completion of a bail-out package for Greece, which officially has yet to ask for help, senior officials said. The package, which may be finalized as early as Monday, could contain as much as $34 billion in aid with primary backing from France and Germany and no contribution from Britain, the BBC reported Saturday. Options include loans to Greece and a bond issue guaranteed by eurozone countries, senior officials told the BBC. The deal must be constructed to circumvent EU rules that prohibit a bail-out for a country on the edge of insolvency, the officials said. Greece is struggling with $419 billion in debt and must raise about $27 billion to refinance debt that matures in April and May. Greece's debt is four times higher than European Union rules allow and austerity measures undertaken to reduce the debt have angered many in Greece. The crisis also has undermined confidence in the euro, which is used as currency in 16 nations. NEW YORK, March 13 (UPI) -- Criminal charges are expected against some of the nearly 36,000 New York cab drivers who allegedly overcharged passengers $8.3 million, officials said. The extra income came during a 26-month period reviewed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission using new electronic trip data from GPS technology, The New York Daily News reported Saturday. About 35,550 drivers overcharged passengers at least once, while another 3,000 drivers were repeat offenders, switching their meters to a higher out-of-city rate more than 100 times each, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The worst offenders face criminal charges, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday. City officials said they were working on an alert that would appear on a cab's backseat monitor when a driver activated the higher out-of-city rate. The Taxi Workers Alliance questioned the enormity of the alleged scam. "This is a workforce that's known for returning diamonds and tens of thousands of dollars passengers leave behind," Alliance spokesman Bhairavi Desai said. "To be told the same workforce is ripping off passengers for four dollars and change each ride just doesn't match." ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., March 13 (UPI) -- MGM Mirage (NYSE:MGM) says it will put its 50 percent stake in Atlantic City's Borgata casino in a divestiture trust to resolve regulatory problems. The agreement reached Friday with New Jersey's Division of Gaming Enforcement gives the MGM Mirage 18 months to find an owner for its 50 percent share of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. Any deal must be approved by the state's Casino Control Commission. The sale could be worth between $200 million and $500 million based on the property's profits, the Journal said. MGM Mirage agreed to the divestiture after state gaming regulators deemed the company's Macau business partner, heiress Pansy Ho, unsuitable. The divestiture agreement positions MGM Mirage to leave Atlantic City, where gambling revenues declined 16 percent in February from a year ago. The Macau casino market, in contrast, saw revenues increase 70 percent in February from a year ago.
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