Another American bank is deep in trouble. And bankers involved with First Republic Bank are looking to avoid collapse by getting the big U.S. banks who’ve already helped it out not long ago to help save it once again. Or they expect a government takeover. 

First Republic is hoping the larger banks will purchase bonds from First Republic at above-market rates for a loss of a few billion dollars. If not, these same banks will face roughly $30 billion in FDIC fees when First Republic fails, CNBC reported.

Just days after the government seized both midsized banks Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the country’s biggest banks united to inject $30 billion in deposits into First Republic so it could avoid a similar fate. 

Now First Republic wants to go back to the well for more.

According to insiders, it’s a dire period for the bank as its stock has been in free fall since disclosing on April 24 that its deposits dropped a whopping 41 percent recently, leaving it with $104.5 billion in deposits.

SCOOP (1/2): Bankers working w @firstrepublic bank say they expect eventual govt receivership for the ailing bank after it exhausts private sector solutions such as asset sales and finding a buyer, both of which appear difficult. Officials at the big banks believed the Feds were

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) April 25, 2023

“Now that the earnings are out, once you’ve got a window to act, it’s time to do it,” one of the bankers, who asked for anonymity, told CNBC. “You never know what will happen if you wait, and you don’t want to be dealing with an emergency situation.”

Things are not looking well for the bank.

“It’s becoming clearer each day” that First Republic is “toast,” said Don Bilson at Gordon Haskett Research Advisors in a note on April 26. “The only question that really needs to be answered is whether the [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation] moves in before the weekend or during the weekend, which is when it usually does its thing.”

According to Bloomberg, the lender is looking to sell as much as $100 billion of its loans and securities in a bid to balance its books. 

Still, investors fear that the First Republic will go into receivership, David Chiaverini, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, told CNN. When a bank goes into receivership, a regulatory authority or government agency takes control of the bank and its assets. The goal is usually to liquidate the bank’s assets to repay its creditors. When a bank goes into receivership this can have major consequences for the bank’s customers, shareholders, and employees, as well as for the wider financial system.

A passer-by walks near a First Republic Bank branch location, April 26, 2023, in Boston. First Republic Bank’s stock continued to slide Wednesday, an ongoing rout that has erased a portion of its value just this week on concerns about the bank’s financial health in the wake of two other bank collapses. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)