John Bovenzi, the chief operating officer of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., reassured consumers that U.S. bank failures have been rare in the past, and that if more banks do fail, the government has enough in reserve.
“I think the important point to make is that, historically, only a very small percentage of the banks on our problem banks list ever failed,” he said on CNN late Sunday. “While there are 90 banks on the list, there would be no expectation that 90 of those banks would fail.”
Bovenzi took the helm of what will be IndyMac Federal Bank when the government stepped in late Friday afternoon to save the struggling institution.
The Office of Thrift Supervision transferred control of IndyMac to the FDIC because it did not think the lender could meet its depositors’ demands.
“If there are other bank failures in the coming weeks, I think the same message, if your accounts are under $100,000, you have absolutely nothing to worry about,” he said. “You can still find ways to protect more if you like.”
THE GUY AT THE FDIC SAYS IF ANYMORE BANKS FAIL THIS WEEK??? DOES HE KNOW WHICH ONE??
