US Sen Bunning: FDIC’s Bair Said Up To 500 More Banks Could Fail

08/06/2009 • Investment Watch

Cutting out the competition? Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair believes up to 500 more banks could fail this year, a U.S. senator said Bair told him in a recent meeting. “She told us that unless something dramatic happens, we could lose up to 500 more banks,” Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., said Thursday at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on the foreclosure crisis. Bunning said Bair made the remarks in a recent meeting. “That means that people who make mortgages in local places …. people that could really help in a foreclosure will not be there,” Bunning said.