FDIC Celebrates 75 Years as Pillar of American Banking System
Source:
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Washington. D.C.
www.fdic.gov
Seventy-five years after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed on June 16, 1933, the Banking Act of 1933, a part of which established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the FDIC continues to safeguard the money of depositors throughout America in FDIC-insured accounts.
The FDIC preserves and promotes public confidence in the U.S. financial system by insuring deposits in banks and thrift institutions for at least $100,000 per depositor, per bank and certain retirement accounts up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank; by identifying, monitoring, and addressing risks to the deposit insurance funds; and by limiting the effect on the economy and the financial system when a bank or thrift institution fails.
An independent agency of the federal government, the FDIC was created by Congress in response to the thousands of U.S. bank failures that occurred in the 1920s and early 1930s. Since the start of FDIC insurance ($2,500 initial deposit insurance level) on January 1, 1934, no depositor has lost a single cent of insured funds as a result of a bank failure.
The FDIC receives no Congressional appropriations; it is funded by premiums that banks and thrift institutions pay for deposit insurance coverage and from earnings on investments in U.S. Treasury securities. With an insurance fund (Deposit Insurance Fund) totaling more than $49 billion, the FDIC insures more than $3 trillion of deposits in U.S. banks and thrifts - deposits in virtually every bank and thrift in the nation.
In remarks commemorating the FDIC’s 75th anniversary, Chairman’Sheila C. Bair announced an education campaign designed to raise awareness about deposit insurance limits. The campaign includes national advertising, a multi-city outreach effort, and an award program for outstanding work in financial education. Advertising will appear in major daily newspapers, news magazines, and lifestyle publications to increase awareness about deposit insurance limits.
Chairman Bair will be embarking on road tours in July and September, stopping in five FDIC regional offices where she will engage guests in discussions about deposit insurance, what it means to be an FDIC-insured institution, the costs and benefits of banking services, and the consumer protections resulting from federal regulation of the banking industry. (see cities and dates at www. fdic.gov/anniversary/news_061608.html).
Chairman Bair said, “The FDIC has a proud and storied tradition. We’ve protected the savings of consumers, we’ve kept the banking system stable and secure, and we’ve built confidence and stability into the U.S. economy.””
