US banks being shut down by FDIC.

The FDIC classified 171 banks as “problem” in the third quarter 08, a 46 percent jump from the second quarter 08, and said industry earnings fell 94 percent to $1.73 billion from the previous year 07.
The agency doesn’t identify problem banks by name.

First Centennial Bank of Redlands, California, was seized by a state regulator, the third U.S. bank to fail this year 09, as the recession deepens and the slump in the housing industry sends home foreclosures to records.
National Bank of Commerce in Berkeley, Illinois, and Bank of Clark County in Vancouver, Washington, were shuttered by regulators on Jan. 16,09.

Regulators closed 25 banks last year 08, the most since 1993, draining money from the FDIC deposit insurance fund, which had $34.6 billion as of Sept. 30,08.

The FDIC, the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve have stepped up efforts to aid U.S. institutions that reported more than $500 billion in writedowns and credit losses, and raised more than $400 billion in capital last year 08.

The U.S. on Jan. 16,09 gave Bank of America Corp , the largest bank by assets, $20 billion cash and $118 billion in asset guarantees to help absorb losses after the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.
Citigroup Inc. got $20 billion and $301 billion in guarantees in November 08.

Defaults Rise
More than 2.3 million U.S. properties got a default or auction notice, or were seized by lenders, RealtyTrac Inc., the California-based seller of default data, said Jan. 15,09.
That’s the highest total in the four years of RealtyTrac recordkeeping. Filings rose 41 percent in December 08 from a year earlier 07.

The FDIC last month approved a budget for the coming year that almost doubles spending to $2.2 billion from 2008 to hire staff for handling bank closures. As much as $1 billion was allotted to manage failed banks.

The FDIC oversees 8,384 institutions with $13.6 trillion in assets and insures deposits of as much as $250,000 per depositor per bank.
The agency last month 12-08 doubled premiums charged to banks for coverage to replenish its reserves amid agency forecasts that bank failures through 2013 will cost almost $40 billion.

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