FDIC // Current

Citigroup and Wells Fargo seek compromise on Wachovia

Prodded by the Federal Reserve, Citigroup and Wells Fargo agreed to a cease-fire until Wednesday in the legal warfare over their... more

khaosworks
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Fiscal Crisis Is Hitting Some States Hard

This Story PRESSURE AND TURMOIL: With No Plan B, House Reluctantly Passes Politically Risky Measure Fiscal Crisis Is Hitting... more

starr111
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Citi: Wells Fargo blocked from buying Wachovia

NEW YORK -- The fight over control of Wachovia intensified Saturday, as a judge temporarily agreed to block the sale of the bank... more

starr111
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FDIC Conductor Wields a Steady Hand - washingtonpost.com

Hundreds of people desperate to withdraw money lined up outside the branches of IndyMac Bancorp after the California bank was... more

starr111
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Ron Paul: Buying bad debt is the wrong solution

Two days after the House rejected the $700 billion bailout bill, the Senate is set to vote on the rescue plan for financial... more

kThoop
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How do I choose the right bank, savings and loan or credit union?

Deciding on a banking relationship is becoming more complex every day. Foremost, your deposits should be FDIC-insured. Use... more

starr111
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Chase Buys WaMu

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized WaMu on Thursday, and then sold the thrift's banking assets to JPMorgan Chase... more

ebindelglass
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FDIC money is dwindling

Banks are not the only ones struggling in the growing financial crisis. The fund established to insure their deposits is also... more

Pericles1978
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How to makes sure your bank is "safe"

Not that banks fail often, or that many of us store more than the federally insured amount in a bank, but it is good to know where... more

sajh
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Government shuts down silver state bank - 11th failure in 2008

Regulators on Friday shut down Silver State Bank, saying the Nevada bank failed because of losses on soured loans, mainly in... more

Pericles1978
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Something fishy In Arizona?

Recall that a week ago, John McCain's (R) son -- Andrew K. McCain -- suddenly resigned as a member of the board of directors... more

pissedoffinarkansas
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FDIC may borrow money from Treasury

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) might have to borrow money from the Treasury Department to see it through an expected wave... more

Pericles1978
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FDIC gets ready for more bank failures...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is one of those agencies with a low profile but essential role similar to plumbing or... more

Pericles1978
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Florida bank closed by FDIC - Aug. 1, 2008

Federal regulators closed Florida's First Priority Bank on Friday, marking the eighth bank failure of the year. The... more

Psychedelic
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BREAKING: Another US Bank Goes Under! 8th so far this year. - ALEEKA.COM

First Priority Bank was shut down by regulators on Friday, making the small Florida lender the eighth bank failure in the U.S. so... more

aleeka
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Another Day, Another Bank Failure

First Priority Bank, Bradenton, Florida, was closed today by the Commissioner of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, and... more

enum_Bossman
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After 7 Years, Talks on Trade Collapse

Us Economy too weak to negotiate trade agreements. GENEVA — World trade talks collapsed here on Tuesday after seven... more

Psychedelic
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Last hurrah for the banking system

FDIC has only $53 billion in reserves to guarantee $4 trillion in total bank deposits.

As the bank-runs increase, the FDIC will be forced to admit the truth, that they don't have the resources to deal with a problem this big. Currently, the FDIC has only $53 billion in reserves to guarantee $4 trillion in total bank deposits. The entire system has a mere $267 billion cash in the vaults. What a shabby way to run a banking system. Where's the money going to come from when depositors start withdrawing their savings? How will the FDIC deal with the ongoing deleveraging in the market which is forcing more and more investors move into cash?

On Friday, after the market had closed, the FDIC shut down two more banks, First Heritage Bank and First National Bank. Two weeks earlier, regulators seized Indymac Bancorp following a run by depositors. The FDIC now operates like a stealth paramilitary unit, deploying its shock troops on the weekends to do their dirty work out of the public eye and at times when it will least effect the stock market. The reasons for this are obvious; there's only one thing the government hates more than seeing flag-draped coffins on the evening news, and that's seeing long lines of frantic soccer moms and blue-collar working guys waiting impatiently to get what's left of their savings out of their now-deceased bank. After all, flag-draped coffins merely indicate that we're losing a war, but lines at the bank prove that the system is broken. And the system is broken, that's why people are depressed and confidence is waning.

Last Sunday, sought Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tried to reassure the public that the banking system is sound, while bracing people for more trouble ahead:

* "I think it's going to be months that we're working our way through this period — clearly months. But again, it's a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation."

Paulson is like a broken record. Everything is always hunky-dory. He is the consummate Wall Street investment sharpie; a bright guy who could charm a hungry dog off a meat-wagon. But when it comes to telling the truth; forget about it. You'd be better off listening to Bush, which isn't saying much. The banking system is not sound nor is it well capitalized. It is a corpse that's been propped up in the office hallway next to the water-cooler so that everyone who passes bye gets a stifling whiff of the decaying flesh. Still, the charade goes on. Still the lies persist.

If the rate of bank closures continues at the present pace, by the middle of 2009 their will be restrictions on withdrawals. Even now, if you go to your bank and try to withdraw $9,000 or $10,000, it sends waves of panic through the entire building like a 5-alarm fire that quickly engulfs the main exits. It's crazy. Tellers go scampering around helter-skelter, and bank managers suddenly appear at the window grimacing in pain and wringing the sweat from their brows.

Most people are unaware of the fact that the new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout package that was passed into law on Saturday, provides Paulson with $300 billion of taxpayer dollars to shore up the faltering mortgage behemoths. In order to accomplish this, the congress increased the national debt by a whopping $800 billion sending it over the $10 trillion mark for the first time in history.
FDIC has only $53 billion in reserves to guarantee $4 trillion in total bank deposits. As the bank-runs increase, the FDIC... more

Psychedelic
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42 responses

4 months ago

FDIC takes over 2 more banks, closing 28 branches

"CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The 28 branches of 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank, operating in Nevada,... more

merckrx
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1 response

4 months ago

Economic Depression Then and Now

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, a scholar of the epic financial meltdown of the Great Depression, and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a survivor of more recent Wall Street crises, told Congress of their latest efforts to rescue the financial sector. If Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and his deputy Lawrence Summers were known as the Committee to Save the World during the financial crises of the 1990s, today's duo may go down as the Committee to Save Wall Street From Itself. For the past several months, the Fed and the Treasury Department have pulled all-nighters dealing with three-alarm fires, from the demise of Bear Stearns in March to the rising concerns over the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Fannie and Freddie play a huge role in the mortgage business by lending cash and guaranteeing loans made by others. But with the spread of the mortgage crises their stocks have plummeted in recent weeks, and questions have been raised as to whether the government would do what it implied it would all along when it established the two government sponsored organizations: stand behind their debt. Bernanke and Paulson gave an emphatic "yes," as they described to occasionally hostile Congress members their plans to allow Fannie and Freddie to borrow money from the Federal Reserve, and to empower the Treasury Department to buy (and buoy) the companies' stock and stand behind their $5.2 trillion in debt. The prospective moves, along with some slightly better-than-expected earnings reports from banks last week, calmed the markets. The price for this desperately needed action is likely to be more regulation and oversight. Will the crisis inspire a fundamental restructuring of the vital, symbiotic relationship between Washington and Wall Street, as happened during the New Deal? Or will these responses prove a temporary blip, as when the government bailed out the savings and loan industry in the late 1980s? In short, is this 1933 or 1989?

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, a scholar of the epic financial meltdown of the Great Depression,... more