Fun things to do on a Friday evening

It is Friday evening, so it is time for... the FDIC to report on which banks failed this week. Usually that means the failed bank is going to be taken over by a healthier bank. The first big question is whether uninsured deposits (in excess of the FDIC $250,000 limit) will be "assumed" by the new bank. This evening there were two banks that failed:

1. Franklin Bank, SSB, Houston, TX - all deposits will be assumed by Prosperity Bank, El Campo, TX.
2. Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles, CA - all deposits will be assumed by Pacific Western Bank, Los Angeles, CA.

In other words, in both cases all deposits, including those above $250,000, were protected.

The FDIC does not give any advance notice of bank closures. In fact, it is usually a state banking regulator who does the closure and then FDIC is "named receiver" and then takes over.

The basic idea is to totally avoid old-fashioned "runs" on banks and pre-arrange the assumption of deposits by a healthy bank before the closure is even announced. In other words, there should be no disruption of service and no need for customers to lose any sleep.

There have been 19 banks that have have failed this year, which is a lot compared to a normal year, but miniscule considering that all that has happened this year and the fact that there are over 8,000 banks and savings associations in the U.S.

-- Jack Krupansky