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Government Studies on Deposit Insurance

Below is a listing of major U.S. government studies written after 1980 on the related topics of deposit insurance and bank failures.

The studies touch upon a variety of issues associated with the protection of deposits and depositors, including: the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF), deposit insurance reform, the causes of bank failures, moral hazard and "too-big-to-fail".

Copies of these reports are available to the public through the government depository library program. Contact your local library for assistance.

Congressional Budget Office

Budgetary Treatment of Deposit Insurance: A Framework for Reform Washington, 1991.
Mandated by the U.S. Congress, the intent was to study whether the accounting for federal deposit insurance programs should be on a cash basis, on the same basis as loan guarantees, or some other alternative.

The Changing Business of Banking: A Study of Failed Banks from 1987 to 1992. Washington, 1994.
Prepared at the request of the Senate Banking Committee, the study examined the major factors contributing to bank failures during the period outlined and discussed the extraordinary resolution costs that resulted.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
A Brief History of Deposit Insurance
An overview of the development of the system of deposit insurance in the United States. http://www.fdic.gov/bank/historical/brief/index.html

Deposit Insurance: An Annotated Bibliography 1989 - 1999. Washington, 2000.
Compiled by the Division of Research and Statistics and the FDIC Library, the annotated bibliography was intended as a comprehensive compilation of research on deposit insurance issues. More than 700 works, including books, journal articles, dissertations, monographs and other resources are cited, often with abstracts. Annual updates are planned. http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/international/bibliography/index.html

Deposit Insurance Options Paper. Published by the FDIC, August, 2000.
The "Options Paper" was published by the FDIC as part of a comprehensive review of the U.S. deposit insurance system. Intended to provoke discussion, the Paper identified three fundamental areas for review: the processes for pricing risks, the funding of insurance losses, and the establishment of coverage limits. http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/insurance/initiative/OptionPaper.html

Deposit Insurance for the Nineties: Meeting the Challenge. Washington, 1989.
Issued just before the passage of FIRREA, the report represents the FDIC's review of the problems associated with the then-existing deposit insurance regime and the Agency's recommendations for reform.

Deposit Insurance in a Changing Environment. Washington, 1983.
At the request of the House Banking Committee, the FDIC analyzed a wide range of strategies that had been proposed to reform the then-existing system of deposit insurance.

FDIC: The First Fifty Years - A History of the FDIC, 1933 - 1983. Washington, 1983.
Prepared in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the FDIC, this study presented a readable overview of issues related to deposit insurance, and a history of the Agency itself. http://www.fdic.gov/bank/analytical/firstfifty/index.html

Findings and Recommendations Concerning "Pass-Through" Deposit Insurance. Washington, 1990.
A FIRREA-mandated study, the FDIC was required to review the pass-through deposit insurance coverage provided to individual participants in pension and profit-sharing 401k plans, as well as individual investors in unit investment trusts.

History of the Eighties: Lessons for the Future. 2 Vol., Washington, 1998.
The banking problems of the 1980s and early 1990s were of a magnitude not seen since the Great Depression and therefore provided a unique window through which FDIC researchers and analysts studied the causes of, and the resultant regulatory and supervisory response to, the sharply increased numbers of bank failures. http://www.fdic.gov/bank/historical/history/index.html

Managing the Crisis: The FDIC and RTC Experience. 2 Vol., Washington, 1998.
The FDIC reviewed the manner in which bank and thrift failures were handled during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Volume 1 describes the evolution of the methods used to resolve failed institutions and provides case studies for several major failures including Continental Illinois, First RepublicBank and the Bank of New England. Volume 2 contains the proceedings of an FDIC-sponsored symposium held on the topic in April, 1998. http://www.fdic.gov/bank/historical/managing/index.html

Mandate for Change: Restructuring the Banking Industry. Washington, 1987
The FDIC under then-Chairman Seidman issued this reform proposal late in 1987. Although much of the report addresses broad issues such as expanded bank powers in a changing financial marketplace, the FDIC recommended specific deposit insurance reforms. Among others, these included increasing FDIC supervisory authority to ensure that the activities of outside affiliates would not threaten the insured bank.

Recommendations for Deposit Insurance Reform
In April, 2001, after a completing a comprehenisve review, the FDIC issued recommendations for strengthening the deposit insurance system. These recommendations included merging the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF), and adopting a more risk-based system for charging insurance premiums. http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/insurance/initiative/index.html

Report to the Congress on the Findings and Recommendations Concerning the "Two-Window" Deposit System Proposal. Washington, 1992.
Mandated by FDICIA, a "two-window" structure would allow banking organizations to compete in non-bank markets without exposing the deposit insurance fund to undue risk.

Resolutions Handbook: Methods for Resolving Troubled Financial Institutions in the United States. Washington, 1998
The report details the processes available to the FDIC for the resolution of problem banks and savings institutions. http://www.fdic.gov/bank/historical/reshandbook/index.html

A Study of the Desirability and Feasibility of a Risk-Based Deposit Insurance Premium System. Washington, 1990.
Another FIRREA-mandated report, the FDIC reviewed the framework for deposit insurance pricing methods and recommended procedures and an implementation strategy.
Federal Home Loan Bank Board
Agenda for Reform: A Report on Deposit Insurance Reform. Washington, 1983.
Mandated by the Garn-St. Germain Act, the report recommended a variety of improvements in the deposit insurance system.
National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement
Origins and Causes of the S&L Debacle: A Blueprint for Reform. Washington, 1993.
The Commission's report was based on months of study, public hearings, recorded interviews and original research on the causes of the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s. The Commission focused on the major forces that led to the crisis and/or contributed to its magnitude. The report also recommended policy changes that would reduce the chances for a similar, future crisis.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Bank Failure: An Evaluation of the Factors Contributing to the Failure of National Banks. Washington, 1988.
The OCC found that in most cases of failure, specific factors and patterns of practice within the bank itself were the chief determinants of failure, although economic problems in the local market served by the bank often played a contributing role. http://www.occ.treas.gov/bankfailure.pdf

Problem Bank Identification, Rehabilitation, and Resolution: a Guide for Examiners. Washington, 2001.
A detailed guide to the early detection and rehabilitation of problem banks and the advanced supervision and resolution of these institutions when conditions are more serious. Considerable discussion is offered on early warning systems for examiners, the supervision strategies designed to rehabilitate problem institutions, resolution management and the bank closing process. http://www.occ.treas.gov/prbbnkgd.pdf

Resolution Trust Corporation
Open-Bank Assistance: A Study of Government Assistance to Troubled Banks from the RFC to the Present. Washington, 1990.
This RTC research study describes four major types of open-bank assistance; the loan and investment program of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation; the FDIC's net worth certificate program; the FDIC's capital forbearance program; and direct open-bank assistance transactions.
U.S. Congress, House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs
Banking Industry in Turmoil: A Report on the Condition of the U.S. Banking Industry and the Bank Insurance Fund. Washington, 1990.
Three private-sector economists, James Barth, Dan Brumbaugh and Robert Litan, presented this study to the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions. In addition to providing an overview of the banking industry's travails, the authors recommended a variety of reforms to the deposit insurance system, as well as legislative changes that in their view would reduce the deposit insurance liabilities of the government.

Briefing Paper on Deposit Insurance: How it Originated and How it Works. Washington, 1990.
The report was intended as a guide for members as the House of Representatives debated various deposit insurance reform proposals.
U.S. General Accounting Office
Deposit Insurance: Analysis of Reform Proposals. Washington, 1986.
The report recommended strengthened supervisory and financial reporting requirements by financial institutions.

Deposit Insurance: A Strategy for Reform. Washington, 1991.
Mandated by FIRREA, the report outlined changes to the deposit insurance system that in the GAO's view would promote a safe, sound and stable banking industry. Among the GAO's many recommendations were heightened supervision of bank and thrifts and an increase in the regulatory authority of the FDIC.
U.S. Office of Management and Budget
Budgeting for Federal Deposit Insurance. Washington, 1991.
The OMB found that the then-present system of cash accounting for deposit insurance had delayed recognition of the growing costs of the program.
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Modernizing the Financial System: Recommendations for Safer, More Competitive Banks. Washington, 1991.
Mandated by FIRREA, this lengthy report recommended introducing a risk-based system for pricing federal deposit insurance. Many of the recommendations were incorporated into the FDICIA legislation of 1991.

Recommendations for Change in the Federal Deposit Insurance System. Washington. The Working Group of the Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs, January, 1985.
The report recommended risk-related pricing of deposit insurance, increasing the size of the bank and thrift funds, increasing capital requirements and improving regulatory procedures.

Last Updated 09/12/2006 library@fdic.gov

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