Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — The head of the agency that insures bank deposits said Monday it has plenty of money to cover any failures this year.
Sheila Bair, the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said the agency has set aside $22 billion to cover any projected losses over the next year, leaving $19 billion. The deposit-insurance fund now stands at its lowest level in nearly a quarter-century and is raising the assessment on banks and thrifts to give it more money in reserve.
“We’d like a bigger cushion. We’d like to be prepared for all contingencies, so we are increasing our reserves, our assessments, so that should bolster our reserves some more,” Bair said.
Just 2 1/2 months into the year, 17 federally insured banks have failed.
