Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Senate Banking Committee approved U.S. Senator Mike Enzi’s, R-Wyo., deposit insurance bill today. The bill would better protect the retirement funds and savings of Americans by increasing amounts covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Enzi said the bill is particularly important to rural communities with fewer banks.
"This bill is very important to America’s rural financial institutions. In states like Wyoming, people have limited choices where they can safely deposit their hard-earned money. They usually depend on a local bank or credit union. These financial institutions, in turn, lend money to local businesses and invest in their communities. This relationship benefits the customer, the institution and the community. However, it can only work if there is a system in place that allows our small banks to operate with the confidence of knowing that this money will be safe in an unlikely case of a crisis. I am pleased that we are making progress on a bill that will preserve this relationship," said Enzi.
The bill, S. 1562, the Safe and Fair Deposit Insurance Act, is now ready to be considered by the full Senate.
The bill would change current FDIC policies to reflect inflation and the growing size of deposits by increasing the retirement fund size that the FDIC can insure from $100,000, under the current system, to $250,000. The bill would also allow the FDIC to adjust coverage limits for checking, savings, retirement and other individual deposit accounts for inflation in 2010 and every five years thereafter.
Enzi said the bill is particularly important to rural communities with fewer banks.
"This bill is very important to America’s rural financial institutions. In states like Wyoming, people have limited choices where they can safely deposit their hard-earned money. They usually depend on a local bank or credit union. These financial institutions, in turn, lend money to local businesses and invest in their communities. This relationship benefits the customer, the institution and the community. However, it can only work if there is a system in place that allows our small banks to operate with the confidence of knowing that this money will be safe in an unlikely case of a crisis. I am pleased that we are making progress on a bill that will preserve this relationship," said Enzi.
The bill, S. 1562, the Safe and Fair Deposit Insurance Act, is now ready to be considered by the full Senate.
The bill would change current FDIC policies to reflect inflation and the growing size of deposits by increasing the retirement fund size that the FDIC can insure from $100,000, under the current system, to $250,000. The bill would also allow the FDIC to adjust coverage limits for checking, savings, retirement and other individual deposit accounts for inflation in 2010 and every five years thereafter.
