failed banks

Given the level of public outrage over the government's rescue of banks during the financial crisis, the final cost to the taxpayer of keeping those failed institutions afloat turns out to have been relatively modest: The FDIC has paid out a mere $8.89 billion to 165 banks since the crisis began.

Over the weekend, the FDIC announced the seizure of seven banks, bringing the 2010 tally to 103. It's very possible that 2010 failures could surpass 2009, but the forecast improves starting in 2011.

Banks are still unhealthy. If anyone doubted that, it was made official when The New York Times and other news outlets began reporting early this week that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had announced that 450 banks had been added to the list of troubled financial institutions. Just why...

Could your bank fail? There's still a chance, but if you study the numbers, the odds are still highly in your favor that your financial institution will be sticking around. Earlier this week, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. came out with its third-quarter report, stating that the number of...

With regulators having seized 123 banks so far this year, one might think the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would be looking everywhere to find potential buyers for failed financial institutions' deposits and assets. But there's one place to which they're apparently not quite...

In August, the FDIC reluctantly made it easier for private-equity groups to buy failed banks after the number of problem banks rose to 416 at the end of June. I say reluctantly because the FDIC prefers to sell failed banks to people with a track record in the banking industry. Now there are some...

More than 100 banks have failed this year, and even the government acknowledges that many more will probably fold before 2009 draws to a close. In most cases, ordinary citizens who have accounts are protected by FDIC insurance. Yes, there's certainly a hassle involved, especially if you have bills...

Veteran Wall Street analyst Richard Bove caused quite a stir among bankers last summer with a research note that called out 24 mostly small and midsize financial institutions. Bove said they were endangered by rising levels of delinquent mortgages and other toxic assets. The decision to publish...

Last Friday, regulators seized nine banks, the most on a single day since the financial crisis began more than two years ago. Sure, it was a sign of just how sick many financial institutions have become, but it wasn't all bad news. That's especially true for U.S. Bancorp (USB), the Minnesota-based...

Almost every Friday this year, usually in the evening, a grim announcement is released to the public: Another bank has failed. Sure enough, Friday came and went, and with it, came the announcement that another bank had failed. Actually, not just one bank had failed -- but nine. That's the most...