May 23--BankUnited's first day under its new ownership unfolded smoothly Friday after a costly federal takeover and sale of the failed Coral Gables thrift.

Bank staffers reassured worried customers that their savings are safe as federal regulators manned a hotline to field questions and harp on a theme of "business as usual" for the newly fortified bank.

"I thought there would be a few wrinkles with customers, but everything is as smooth as silk," said John Kanas, the New York banker who led a group of private equity firms in the winning bid to acquire BankUnited Thursday.

Kanas, who became BankUnited's new CEO, has been jetting back and forth between Miami and New York, sometimes twice in a day, as he takes the reins at the largest Florida-based financial institution. The former chairman and chief executive of North Fork Bancorp in Mellville, N.Y., joined WL Ross & Co., a distressed asset firm, last year as a senior advisor with plans to acquire failing financial institutions.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which agreed to sell the thrift to Kanas' group after it was seized and closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision Thursday, sent staffers to various branches to help keep customers calm.

"There have been questions from customers, but that's par for the course," said FDIC spokesman David Barr. "We try to make ourselves as visible as possible to alleviate any concerns people may have. Some people want to kick the tires, to see the doors are open and the tellers are there."

The failure will cost the FDIC insurance fund an estimated $4.9 billion -- which is second biggest hit to the fund during the current downturn, eclipsed only by the $11 billion cost incurred with the failure of IndyMac, of Pasadena, Calif.

But the new bank took on all the deposits -- meaning no BankUnited customer is out a nickel. And the buyers injected some $900 million in fresh capital and obtained a commitment the federal government will shoulder the bulk of the loan losses of the old thrift.

With many other Florida banks licking their wounds in the economic downturn, that positions BankUnited to pursue Kanas' ambition of leveraging its 85 branches to build a Florida banking powerhouse in the image of Barnett Banks, which was gobbled up in a merger in 1997.

Ramiro Ortiz, BankUnited's former CEO who is staying on in senior management, visited several branches Friday to help reassure employees. "Everyone was assured that the Kanas group wants to stay with the BankUnited strategy and eventually grow this into Florida's premier bank," Ortiz said.