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FDIC special assessment to focus on uninsured deposits

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. wants to base its special assessment focused on banks’ uninsured deposit totals.

The agency has proposed having U.S. banks with the highest amounts of uninsured deposits pay to replenish the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF). There will be a 60-day window for comments on the proposed rule.

The assessment rate would be 12.5 basis points, based on a bank’s estimated uninsured deposits as of Dec. 31. Banks with less than $5 billion of assets would be exempt from the special assessment.

The first $5 billion in uninsured deposits would be excluded for banks that are not part of a holding company. For banks that operate under a holding company, the first $5 billion of the combined banking organization’s estimated uninsured deposits would be excluded.

The agency said 113 banks could be subject to the assessment. Banks with more than $50 billion of assets would pay roughly 95% of the total.

The FDIC would collect assessments – designed to replenish an estimated $15.8 billion hit tied to the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank – over eight quarters, beginning in the first quarter of 2024.

“Defining the assessment base in this way would effectively exclude most small banks from the special assessment,” FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said in a press release.

“The law requires the FDIC to consider the types of entities that benefit from any action taken or assistance provided as well as economic conditions, the effects on the industry, and other factors deemed appropriate and relevant,” he added. “In general, large banks with large amounts of uninsured deposits benefitted the most from the systemic risk determination.”

Gruenberg, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra and Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu supported the proposal. Vice Chairman Travis Hill and Jonathan McKernan were against it.

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