Joe Adler

WASHINGTON — Regulators closed Chicago-area Amcore Bank late Friday, putting the $3.8 billion-asset institution out of its misery on a night when six other institutions in and around the Windy City also failed.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said the agency has reduced its projection of the number of bank failures this year.

WASHINGTON — Regulators closed Chicago-area Amcore Bank late Friday, putting the $3.8 billion-asset institution out of its misery on a night when six other institutions in and around the Windy City also failed.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced two bond sales as part of efforts to purge failed-bank assets and recoup resources for the agency.

Lawmakers split Tuesday on whether the regulatory reform bill should include a "financial crisis responsibility fee" charged on the largest institutions.

WASHINGTON — As lawmakers continue to spar over regulatory reform legislation, a separate push to charge the largest banks a "financial crisis responsibility fee" is gaining momentum.

More than 18 months after the largest bank failure in U.S. history, regulators of the collapsed Washington Mutual Inc. faced a day of reckoning Friday, with a key lawmaker accusing them of gross incompetence.

More than 18 months after the largest bank failure in U.S. history, regulators of the collapsed Washington Mutual Inc. faced a day of reckoning Friday, with a key lawmaker accusing them of gross incompetence.

A Government Accountability Office report released Thursday questioned regulators' use of the "systemic-risk" exception during the financial crisis to create a host of government programs to assist large financial institutions.

The Office of Thrift Supervision was more focused on blocking the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from reining in Washington Mutual Inc. than it was in regulating the thrift company itself, congressional investigators and two watchdogs said Thursday.

Four years after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. launched an elaborate deposit insurance pricing system, the agency has gone back to the drawing board.

The FDIC issued a proposal Tuesday that would significantly overhaul how much large banks pay in premiums. Under the plan, which has a 60-day comment period, institutions with more than $10 billion in assets would be assessed based on more "forward-looking measures," such as their ability to handle asset-related stresses and the potential severity of FDIC losses if that institution were to fail.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said misinformation about the regulatory reform legislation may hold up the bill.

The FDIC sold the operations of the $585 million-asset Beach First National Bank in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Bank of North Carolina in Thomasville.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sold the operations of the $585 million-asset Beach First National Bank in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Bank of North Carolina in Thomasville.

The FDIC rebuts an op-ed piece on resolution authority; the ICBA steps up its campaign to end "too big to fail"; a truly lights-out performance by Alan Greenspan.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s board is set to meet Tuesday to discuss premiums, the agency's temporary liquidity guarantee and large-bank reporting.

A poll commissioned by a Republican communications firm said that less than half of respondents support financial regulatory reform.

Three banks on the island holding more than $20 billion of assets are in trouble, and the agency has to resolve them without causing problems for the seven other institutions in the market.

The Federal Housing Administration announced regulations Monday that will require a higher net worth from participating lenders and require mortgage brokers to seek sponsorship from approved lenders before originating loans.