FDIC Chairman Andrew C. Hove, Jr., today announced that the
agency will sponsor a symposium in January 1998 on deposit
insurance. The symposium will focus discussion on the role of
deposit insurance in an evolving financial world and will explore
refinements to the current system.
In making the announcement in a speech at an industry conference in Boston, Mr. Hove pointed out the need for a
symposium in light of the current and pending modernization and
globalization of the U.S. banking industry. He said, "Clearly
banking is headed toward a new world, though the exact route it
will take to get there is a bit uncertain."
Participants - to include bankers, consumer and public
interest groups, scholars and other regulators - will be asked
their views on maintaining a balance between such factors as
providing stability in the banking system and allowing banks to
compete and evolve.
Mr. Hove also stressed the continued importance of deposit
insurance by saying, "Deposit insurance is a critical thread in
the safety net that prevents our financial system and our economy
from hitting bottom when under stress. Large banks benefit from
that safety net along with small banks - money center banks along
with community banks - in fact, everyone in the economy."
In the past several years, the FDIC has held symposiums on
other topics, including derivatives and lessons learned from the
financial crisis in the '80s and '90s.
Congress created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1933 to restore
public confidence in the nation's banking system. The FDIC insures deposits at
the nation's 11,191 banks and savings associations and it promotes the safety
and soundness of these institutions by identifying, monitoring and addressing
risks to which they are exposed.
FDIC press releases and other information are available on the Internet via the
World Wide Web at www.fdic.gov/news and may also be obtained through the
FDIC's Public Information Center (800-276-6003 or (703) 562-2200).
