Wednesday, February 24, 2010

List of "Problem" Banks Soars; Is Your Money Safe?

This is an article from Bloomberg that shows that the FDIC's list of "problem" banks has risen to the highest level since 1993. When you scroll down towards the end, you see something a lot more concerning, and one thing that has concerned me for awhile. The FDIC, the government institution that insures your money (that which is deposited in a bank) for up to $250,000, is currently running a deficit of $20.9 billion.

How much of the $402 billion that these at-risk banks are holding, is insured if the agency in charge of insuring it is running a 20-plus billion dollar deficit? Well, the FDIC has a $500 billion line of credit with the Treasury Department (in other words, the American taxpayer, or more likely, we have to hope that China is willing to buy $500 billion in U.S. treasuries to cover the tab).

In brighter news, my bank isn't listed on the unofficial list of the "problem" banks, yet. Is yours? No matter, I am getting more and more leery of keeping my assets in an FDIC-insured bank.

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