Which 117 problem banks?

August 28, 2008 1:25 AM

I saw a news blurb recently that said..."FDIC sees 117 problem banks; most since 2003...". Do they make this list public?

I've searched the FDIC site and googled, but no luck.

posted by jaimev to Grab Bag (2 answers total)

No. The last thing the FDIC needs is to create a bank panic by naming names. Keep hitting refresh on the failed bank list every Friday afternoon to join in the fun and suspense. There's also the FDIC's press release page, where the results of regular audits show up (e.g.).

That said, some unofficial lists have been compiled by investors and analysts. Take them with a huge grain of salt.
posted by fatllama at 2:09 AM on August 28, 2008

As the llama said, the FDIC tries not to circulate this information. They are supposed to prevent runs on banks, not cause them.

One good place to look for relative bank strength evaluations is the bankrate.com "Safe and Sound" database, which ranks banks according to their balance-sheet statements with regard to capital adequacy, asset quality, profitability, and liquidity. These rankings are compiled with public data and I have found them useful.

The evaluations are pretty much boilerplate, with "Mad Libs" style blanks where appropriate adjectives are filled in.

For example, you could have seen IndyMac coming 6 months in advance if you'd been following its evaluation here; they assigned it the lowest rating and used the most alarmist adjectives they could think of in their assessment.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:01 PM on August 28, 2008 [1 favorite]