Lonnie Bowers's Profile

FDIC-insured banks lost $26.2 billion in the fourth quarter,
the first loss for a three-month period since 1990. U.S. banks
and other financial companies have reported about $800 billion in
writedowns and credit losses since 2007 in the worst financial
crisis since the Great Depression.

The FDIC predicted that bank failures will cost the fund $65
billion through 2013, up from the $40 billion estimated in
October. The fund, drained by 25 bank shutdowns last year,
dropped 45 percent to $18.9 billion in the fourth quarter from
$34.6 billion in the preceding three-month period.

The Washington-based agency classified 252 banks as
“problem” in the fourth quarter, a 47 percent jump from the
third quarter. It doesn’t name the “problem” banks.

The FDIC approved a one-time emergency fee of 20 cents per
$100 of insured deposits on banks to bolster the insurance fund
at a board meeting on Feb 27

Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, introduced a bill to
permanently raise the FDIC’s borrowing authority from Treasury to
$100 billion and temporarily increase it to $500 billion through
Dec. 31, 2010. The House of Representatives this week passed a
measure that would triple the FDIC’s credit line to $100 billion
and permanently raise the deposit-insurance limit to $250,000.

he’s received more than 1,000
messages from executives complaining that the one-time fee could
significantly reduce 2009 earnings.