Time running out for US financial firms to bid for ailing bank First Republic

Deadline of Sunday set for companies such as JPMorgan Chase to table offer for California bank whose shares have plummeted

US regulators are racing to secure the sale of California bank First Republic, which is on course to become the third American lender to fail this year, a sequence of collapses that has drawn uncomfortable parallels with the 2008 global financial crisis.

Half a dozen US banks are in the running to take over stricken First Republic, according to reports over the weekend, with leading bidders including JPMorgan Chase, Citizens Financial and PNC Financial Services.