Some Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) basics

Recent discussions about the financial stability of major banking institutions, such as Washington Mutual, have prompted increased attention on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the strength of its insurance fund. One of the FDIC's principle responsibilities is the insurance of bank deposits for at least $100,000. In order to get a better understanding of the FDIC's consumer protection measures, check out the following publications:

FDIC Consumer News (quarterly)

"Your Insured Deposits: FDIC's Guide to Deposit Insurance Coverage"

And to calculate your FDIC insurance coverage, check out EDIE (Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator).

Although the FDIC has undergone multiple changes since its inception under the Banking Act of 1933 (Public Law No. 73-66, 12 USC Sec. 227), a recent major reform was signed into law in 2006 as the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005.

Congress has held a number of hearings concerning the Federal Deposit Insurance System. Here are some of the more recent ones:

• "Viewpoints of the FDIC and select industry experts on deposit insurance reform" (2001)


• "Viewpoint of select regulators on deposit insurance reform" (2001)


• "Deposit insurance reform : hearing before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit of the Committee on Financial Services" (2001)


• "The Federal Deposit Insurance System and recommendations for reform" (2002)


• "The Federal Deposit Insurance System : hearing before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs" (2003)


• "Oversight of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation" (2004)


• "The consideration of regulatory relief proposals" (2005)


• "Consideration of regulatory relief proposals" (2006)


• "H.R. 698 : the Industrial Bank Holding Company Act of 2007" (2007)


• "Recent events in the credit and mortgage markets and possible implications for U.S. consumers and the global economy" (2007)

And here's a congressional report regarding the Reform Act of 2005:

"Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005 : report (to accompany H.R. 1185) (including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office)" (2005)

The Government Accountability Office (the investigative branch of congress) has also issued a number of reports on the FDIC. Here are two of the most recent ones:

"Deposit Insurance: Assessment of Regulators' Use of Prompt Corrective Action Provisions and FDIC's New Deposit Insurance System" (2007)

"Management Report: Opportunities for Improvements in FDIC’s Internal Controls and Accounting Procedures" (July 2008)

And the Congressional Budget Office (responsible for estimating budget effects of proposed legislation) published this report in 2005.

If you're interested in other aspects of FDIC oversight, you might want to check out the website for the FDIC Office of the Inspector General.

And if you're curious about similar federal insurance for credit unions, check out the National Credit Union Administration.