US banking system stress growing

The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has increased its problem bank list to 119 from 90 three months ago in its quarterly report. It now estimates that US$78 billion worth of assets are at risk, triple what it was three months ago. The FDIC also proposed increasing its insurance premiums for banks from October to boost the size of its insurance fund, which has fallen to 1.01% of all insured deposits at the end of the second quarter. The figures show the Credit Crunch is far from over as mortgage stress seeps into the US heartland and its thousands of smaller banks. New Zealand is alone among the developed world in not having a deposit insurance scheme.