The Federal Trade Commission has approved a final rule requiring depository institutions that lack federal deposit insurance to disclose that information to consumers.
The rule, announced Tuesday, requires that institutions without federal deposit insurance disclose that they are not federally insured and that the federal government does not guarantee consumers will get their money back if the institution fails. Those disclosures must be made on account statements, in advertising and inside branches at deposit windows.
According to the FTC, about 170 state-chartered credit unions in about nine states do not have federal deposit insurance, and instead protect their customers through private deposit insurance. In Puerto Rico, the government provides deposit insurance for nonfederal credit unions.
