By: Robert J. Terry

Ben Mook wrote in Wednesday’s paper about M&T Bank’s growth spurt in the region — an expansion that includes three instances where the Buffalo, N.Y.-based bank took over small banks at the behest of federal regulators.

The latest acquisition occurred Nov. 5, when the Maryland Office of Financial Regulation closed Owings Mills-based K Bank and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as the receiver. The FDIC in turn cut a deal with M&T to assume all of K Bank’s deposits and $410.8 million of the bank’s $538.3 million in assets.

Atwood “Woody” Collins III, president and COO of M&T Bank’s Mid-Atlantic division, described the deals with a ho-hum, just-business demeanor completely at odds with the unpopular image these days of the rapacious titan of high finance — smart move by Collins.

The latest takeover also got me thinking about the mechanics of the thing.

How do you roll in on a Friday night and in a matter of days or even hours turn one bank and its branches into something else? The Baltimore Sun had some interesting color near the end of its story, and the Baltimore Business Journal published a detailed primer that begins with a flourish — “Failure happens on a Friday,” the BBJ wrote.

I’d also highly recommend a This American Life podcast from March 27, 2009 called “Scenes From A Recession.” Act Two chronicles the failure of Washington’s Bank of Clark County, from the point of view of the bank employees as well as some of the 80 FDIC employees on hand for the finely orchestrated takeover. It’s a fascinating and rather sad look behind the scenes at an all-too-common occurrence these days in the U.S. economy.

At last count, 140 banks have been closed in the U.S. this year.