Superior Bank, an Alabama institution that recently changed its charter to Tampa, was closed by regulators with the Office of Thrift Supervision late Friday.

Under an arrangement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a newly chartered bank subsidiary of Houston-based Community Bancorp called Superior Bank N.A. has assumed the bank's deposits and 73 branches in its network.

Superior entered the Tampa Bay market five years ago with the acquisition of Tampa-based Kensington Bankshares, parent of First Kensington Bank.

But the Florida entry proved to be its undoing, as bank executives blamed financial woes on the Florida real estate crash. Burdened by unpaid loans, the bank lost money in eight of its last nine quarters.

As of Dec. 31, Superior had about $3 billion in assets and $2.7 billion in deposits. It has about 15 branches in the greater Tampa Bay region, including Sarasota and Bradenton.