NEW YORK- June 5, 2009 - Federal regulators have closed Silverton Bank, a failed “bankers’ bank” in Atlanta that they took over last month, rather than selling it to a group of private equity firms, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Friday.

On Thursday, the F.D.I.C. sent a letter to Silverton’s customers; about 1,400 community banks across 44 states at the time of its seizure last month, telling them it had closed the institution.

The regulator will begin liquidating the bank, David Barr, a spokesman for the F.D.I.C., said in a statement sent by e-mail.

“Prior to the F.D.I.C.’s appointment as receiver, Silverton had initiated a marketing effort that was allowed to continue until a whole bank acquisition was no longer feasible,” said Barr.

The collapse of talks in recent days between the F.D.I.C. and the four buyout firms, led by the Carlyle Group, was a bump in the road for private equity as it seeks to move into the once off-limits banking sector. Over the last year, groups of private investors have taken over failed institutions like IndyMac, the Kalifornia-based lender, and BankUnited Financial, Florida’s biggest regional bank.