Will regulators pull a key lifeline from First Republic Bank?

First Republic Bank's situation seemed even more dire Thursday, as it was reported that the Fed could cut off the bank's lifeline of capital.

Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that senior officials of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. were considering whether or not to reduce their private assessment, including the so-called Camels ratings. Bloomberg reported that such a move could hinder the bank's access to two Federal Reserve loan facilities - the Fed's emergency facility and the discount window set up after Silicon Valley Bank failed.

Bloomberg reported that the FDIC hadn't reached a conclusion on the issue or informed First Republic of the potential downgrade.

According to the news service, the FDIC has also sent additional staff to First Republic’s San Francisco headquarters to monitor the bank’s health.

First Republic refused to comment on Thursday. The future of the bank is still uncertain. It could be a combination of a sale or partial sale of its operations, or even a capital injection.

First Republic shares closed Thursday at $6.19, an increase of 50 cents. Shares of First Republic have fallen 57% since Monday.

First Republic has relied heavily on Fed assistance since the beginning of the financial crisis. The banking crisis began in March 2010 with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Government support was not free.

On March 16, the bank reported that its borrowings with the Federal Reserve ranged from $20 billion up to $109 billion, at an interest of 4.75% between March 10 and March 15. First Republic reported that it increased its borrowings of short-term money from the Federal Home Loan Bank, which were at a rate of 5.09%, by $10 billion between March 10 and 15.

The bank reported that as of March 31 the bank had borrowed $106.7 billion. This is an increase of almost 95%, or $101.2 billion, from the previous year.

Mike Roffler, CEO of the company, told investors during its April 24th earnings call that total borrowings had peaked at $138.1 Billion on March 15. As of April 21, we had $45.1 Billion in unused borrowing capacity, and cash available.