insurance corporation agency overview formed june 16 1933 jurisdiction federal government of the united states headquarters washington d.c. employees 8 713 december 2012 1 agency executive martin j. gruenberg chairman website www.fdic.gov this article is part of a series on banking in the united states of america federal reserve system monetary policy regulation lending credit card deposit accounts checking money market savings certificate of deposit account insurance federal deposit insurance corporation fdic national credit union share insurance fund ncua payment & transfer check clearing check 21 act electronic funds transfer eft atm card debit card wire transfer substitute check automated clearing house ach bill payment banking charters credit union federal savings bank federal savings association national bank state bank united states portal v t e the fdic s satellite campus in arlington virginia is home to many administrative and support functions though the most senior officials work at the main building in washington bank sign indicating the original insurance limit offered by the fdic of 2 500 in 1934 . the federal deposit insurance corporation fdic is a united states government corporation providing deposit insurance to depositors in us banks . the fdic was created by the 1933 banking act after the great depression to restore trust in the american banking system ; more than one third of banks failed in the years before the fdic s creation and bank runs were common . 2 the insurance limit was initially us 2 500 per ownership category . since the passage of the dodd frank wall street reform and consumer protection act in 2011 the fdic insures deposits in member banks up to us 250 000 per ownership category . 3 the fdic and its reserves are not funded by public funds ; member banks insurance dues are the fdic s primary source of funding . 4 the fdic also has a us 100 billion line of credit with the united states department of the treasury . 5 only banks are insured by the fdic ; credit unions are insured up to the same insurance limit by the national credit union administration which is also a government agency . as of august 27 2014 update the fdic provided deposit insurance at 6 638 institutions . 6 the fdic also examines and supervises certain financial institutions for safety and soundness performs certain consumer protection functions and manages receiverships of failed banks . contents 1 ownership categories 2 board of directors 3 history 3.1 panics of 1893 and 1907 and the great depression 1893 1933 3.2 establishment of the fdic 1933 3.3 historical insurance limits 3.4 s & l and bank crisis of the 1980s 3.5 2008 2010 financial crisis 3.5.1 2008 3.5.2 2009 3.5.3 2010 4 funds 4.1 former funds 4.2 deposit insurance fund 4.3 full faith and credit 5 insurance requirements 6 resolution of insolvent banks 6.1 covered insured depository institutions resolution plans 7 insured products 8 items not insured 9 see also 9.1 related agencies and programs 10 notes 11 references 12 bibliography 13 further reading 14 external links ownership categories edit each ownership category of a depositor s money is insured separately up to the insurance limit and separately at each bank . thus a depositor with 250 000 in each of three ownership categories at each of two banks would have six different insurance limits of 250 000 for total insurance coverage of 6 250 000 1 500 000 . 7 the distinct ownership categories are 7 single accounts accounts not falling into any other category certain retirement accounts including individual retirement accounts iras joint accounts accounts with more than one owner with equal rights to withdraw revocable trust accounts containing the words payable on death in trust for etc. irrevocable trust accounts employee benefit plan accounts deposits of a pension plan corporation partnership unincorporated association accounts government accounts all amounts that a particular depositor has in accounts in any particular ownership category at a particular bank are added together and are insured up to 250 000 . for joint accounts each co owner is assumed unless the account specifically states otherwise to own the same fraction of the account as does each other co owner even though each co owner may be eligible to withdraw all funds from the account . thus if three people jointly own a 750 000 account the entire account balance is insured because each depositor s 250 000 share of the account is insured . the owner of a revocable trust account is generally insured up to 250 000 for each unique beneficiary subject to special rules if there are more than five of them . thus if there is a single owner of an account that is specified as in trust for payable on death to etc. three different beneficiaries the funds in the account are insured up to 750 000 . board of directors edit the board of directors of the fdic is the governing body of the fdic . the board is composed of five members three appointed by the president of the united states with the consent of the united states senate and two ex officio members . the three appointed members each serve six year terms . no more than three members of the board may be of the same political affiliation . the president with the consent of the senate also designates one of the appointed members as chairman of the board to serve a five year term and one of the appointed members as vice chairman of the board to also serve a five year term . the two ex officio members are the comptroller of the currency and the director of the consumer financial protection bureau cfpb . as of january 1 2016 the members of the board of directors of the federal deposit insurance corporation were martin j. gruenberg chairman of the board thomas m. hoenig vice chairman thomas j. curry comptroller of the currency richard cordray director consumer financial protection bureau 8 history edit panics of 1893 and 1907 and the great depression 1893 1933 edit further information panic of 1907 and great depression during the panics of 1893 and 1907 many banks note 1 filed bankruptcy due to bank runs caused by contagion . both of the panics renewed discussion on deposit insurance . in 1893 william jennings bryan presented a bill to congress proposing a national deposit insurance fund . no action was taken as the legislature paid more attention to the agricultural depression at the time . 9 after 1907 eight states established deposit insurance funds . 10 due to the lax regulation of banks and the widespread inability of banks to branch ; small local unit banks often with poor financial health grew in numbers especially in the western and southern states . 11 in 1921 there were about 31 000 banks in the us . 12 the federal reserve act initially included a provision for nationwide deposit insurance but it was removed from the bill by the house of representatives . from 1893 to the fdic s creation in 1933 150 bills were submitted in congress proposing deposit insurance . 13 the great depression devastated the american banking system . there was widespread panic over the american banking system ; in the years before the fdic s creation more than one third of all banks failed due to bank runs . 2 small banks in rural areas were especially affected . reassurances and regulations by the government failed to assuage depositors fears . many depositors withdrew their assets in failed or nearly insolvent banks . establishment of the fdic 1933 edit on 16 june 1933 franklin d. roosevelt signed the 1933 banking act into law creating the fdic . the initial plan set by congress in 1934 was to insure deposits up to 2 500 44 223 today 14 adopting of a more generous long term plan after six months . note 2 however the latter plan was abandoned for an increase of the insurance limit to 5 000 88 445 today . 14 15 president franklin delano roosevelt signs the banking act of 1935 . the 1933 banking act established the fdic as a temporary government corporation . the banking act of 1935 made the fdic a permanent agency of the government and provided permanent deposit insurance maintained at the 5 000 level . gave the fdic authority to provide deposit insurance to banks gave the fdic the authority to regulate and supervise state non member banks funded the fdic with initial loans of 289 million through the u.s. treasury and the federal reserve which were later paid back with interest extended federal oversight to all commercial banks for the first time separated commercial and investment banking glass steagall act prohibited banks from paying interest on checking accounts allowed national banks to branch statewide if allowed by state law . historical insurance limits edit 1934 2 500 1935 5 000 1950 10 000 1966 15 000 1969 20 000 1974 40 000 1980 100 000 2008 250 000 congress approved a temporary increase in the deposit insurance limit from 100 000 to 250 000 which was effective from october 3 2008 through december 31 2010 . on may 20 2009 the temporary increase was extended through december 31 2013 . however the dodd frank wall street reform and consumer protection act p.l. 111 203 which was signed into law on july 21 2010 made the 250 000 insurance limit permanent . 16 in addition the federal deposit insurance reform act of 2005 p.l. 109 171 allows for the boards of the fdic and the national credit union administration ncua to consider inflation and other factors every five years beginning in 2010 and if warranted to adjust the amounts under a specified formula . 17 18 s & l and bank crisis of the 1980s edit main article savings and loan crisis federal deposit insurance received its first large scale test since the great depression in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the savings and loan crisis which also affected commercial banks and savings banks . the brunt of the crisis fell upon a parallel deposit insurer the federal savings and loan insurance corporation fslic created to insure savings and loan s & l institutions s&ls also called thrifts . because of a confluence of events much of the s & l industry was insolvent and many large banks were in trouble as well . the fslic became insolvent and was abolished in august 1989 . it was replaced by the resolution trust corporation rtc . on december 31 1995 the rtc was merged into the fdic and the fdic became responsible for resolving failed thrifts . supervision of thrifts became the responsibility of a new agency the office of thrift supervision . credit unions remained insured by the national credit union administration . the primary legislative responses to the crisis were the financial institutions reform recovery and enforcement act of 1989 firrea and federal deposit insurance corporation improvement act of 1991 fdicia . federally chartered thrifts are now regulated by the office of the comptroller of the currency occ and state chartered thrifts by the fdic . final combined total for all direct and indirect losses of fslic and rtc resolutions was an estimated 152.9 billion . of this total amount u.s. taxpayer losses amounted to approximately 123.8 billion 81 % of the total costs . 19 no taxpayer money was used to resolve fdic insured institutions . 2008 2010 financial crisis edit further information 2007 2012 global financial crisis 2008 edit in 2008 twenty five u.s. banks became insolvent and were closed by their respective chartering authority . 20 however during that year the largest bank failure in terms of dollar value occurred on september 26 2008 when washington mutual with 307 billion in assets experienced a 10 day bank run on its deposits . 21 22 the fdic created the temporary liquidity guarantee