What are the two primary reasons for bank failures?
Banks can fail for a variety of reasons including undercapitalization, liquidity, safety and soundness, and fraud. The chartering agency has the authority to terminate the bank's charter and appoint the FDIC to resolve the failure.
- A run on deposits (leaving the bank without the cash to pay customer withdrawals).
- Too many bad loans/assets that fall sharply in value (eroding the bank's capital reserves).
Bank name | Bank failure date | Assets* |
---|---|---|
Silicon Valley Bank | March 10, 2023 | $209 billion** |
Signature Bank | March 12, 2023 | $110 billion** |
IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. | July 11, 2008 | $31 billion |
Colonial Bank | Aug. 14, 2009 | $26 billion |
- JPMorgan Chase.
- Citigroup.
- Bank of America.
- Wells Fargo.
- BNY Mellon.
- Goldman Sachs.
- Morgan Stanley.
- State Street.
Many smaller banks, such as this one in Haverhill, Iowa, lacked sufficient reserves to stay in business and became no more than convenient billboards. Many of the small banks had lent large portions of their assets for stock market speculation and were virtually put out of business overnight when the market crashed.
Bank failures come about mainly because the institutions involved are unable to meet the obligations they have, which can be to depositors or other institutions.
- Washington Mutual (WaMu), Henderson, NV ($309 Billion Assets) ...
- First Republic Bank, San Francisco, CA ($229 Billion Assets) ...
- Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, CA ($209 Billion Assets)
2024 in Brief
There are no bank failures in 2024. See detailed descriptions below. For more bank failure information on a specific year, select a date from the drop down menu to the right or select a month within the graph.
The receivership of Washington Mutual Bank by federal regulators on September 26, 2008, was the largest bank failure in U.S. history.
The largest bank failure ever occurred when Washington Mutual Bank went under in 2008. At the time, it had about $307 billion in assets. During the uncertainty of the banking crisis, however, Washington Mutual experienced a bank run where customers withdrew almost $17 billion in assets in less than 10 days.
Who loses money when banks fail?
In less common cases, the FDIC will pay off the failed bank's depositors up to the insured amount—$250,000 per account ownership type. If you have more than that amount with the institution, the failed bank's estate is responsible for the remainder.
Companies Considered Too Big to Fail
The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Citigroup Inc. The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase, or Chase Bank, is the biggest bank in America with nearly $3.4 trillion in assets. It boasts a vast network of over 4,800 physical branches and more than 15,000 ATMs. With generous bonuses and promotions and a variety of products, Chase is a popular choice for consumers across the country.
Analysis of new data from the early 1930s suggests that depositors' fears led to runs on banks that were clustered in time and space. These panics significantly reduced lending and monetary aggregates.
Two major California banks — Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic — have failed. While some banking industry leaders have said the immediate crisis is over, stock prices for other regional banks, including PacWest and Western Alliance, fell this week.
Foreigners with bank accounts in the United States rushed to convert deposits to gold, primarily in the New York money market. The effect was a liquidity crisis that caused the failure of 2,293 banks in 1931, or nearly four times the average annual number of failures during the 1920s.
If your bank fails, up to $250,000 of deposited money (per person, per account ownership type) is protected by the FDIC. When banks fail, the most common outcome is that another bank takes over the assets and your accounts are simply transferred over. If not, the FDIC will pay you out.
Generally, credit unions are viewed as safer than banks, although deposits at both types of financial institutions are usually insured at the same dollar amounts. The FDIC insures deposits at most banks, and the NCUA insures deposits at most credit unions.
Bank Name | City | State |
---|---|---|
Heartland Tri-State Bank | Elkhart | KS |
First Republic Bank | San Francisco | CA |
Signature Bank | New York | NY |
Silicon Valley Bank | Santa Clara | CA |
- Citizens Financial Group. ...
- Fifth Third Bancorp. ...
- Citigroup. ...
- U.S. Bancorp. # of complaints: 2,338. ...
- Comerica. # of complaints: 380. ...
- Wells Fargo. # of complaints: 8,465. ...
- KeyCorp. # of complaints: 670. ...
- Bank of America.
How many US banks are in trouble right now?
Recently, a report posted on the Social Science Research Network found that 186 banks in the United States are at risk of failure or collapse due to rising interest rates and a high proportion of uninsured deposits.
While the US banking sector is stable, growing vulnerabilities leave at least some institutions under a near-term threat of funding pressure and capital shortfalls, according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York staff.
- Bank of Scotland – 10 more branches closing (26 in total).
- Halifax – 22 more branches closing (69 in total).
- Lloyds – 21 more branches closing (81 in total).
It remains unclear whether traditional banking will become extinct soon; however, what is certain is that its role will continue to evolve if it is going to survive in this ever-changing landscape of finance.
- Republic First Bancorp. , said earlier this week its auditor had found “material weaknesses” in its controls at the end of 2022, including for key credit measures. ...
- SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF. ...
- BOK Financial. ...
- First Republic Bank.
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