Banks to be asked for billions to shore up FDIC deposit fund
US BANK regulator the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is today expected to pass a measure to ask banks to pay $36bn (£22.7bn) to shore up is dwindling deposit insurance fund.
The FDIC board is set to meet today and will ask US banks to pay three years of regular contributions in advance to boost the regulator’s funding pot, which has fallen to $10bn from $50bn as the body has covered depositor losses at 95 failed banks over the last year.
The FDIC is likely to propose the banking industry prepay their insurance premiums for 2010-2012, bringing in about $12bn for each of the three years, making a total of $36bn.
It is thought that banks that are struggling under huge losses on commercial real estate and other bad loans may get a waiver to pay their levies at a later date. The timing of the payments has not yet been worked out.
FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said earlier this month that she was “considering all options, including borrowing from Treasury,” to replenish the insurance fund. But the regulator now thinks this would be seen as another taxpayer-financed bailout.