its just cyclical...

As we proceed through this time in our country's financial history we are seeing the paradox of government intervention. Too big to fail yet creating an atmosphere where bigger is just getting bigger! While our wise and wonderful Congressional representatives continue to write usurping laws and regulations that are squeezing the local community banks out of business. It truly takes a 'village' to enable a community bank to steer its way through the myriad of twisted and sometimes contrary regulatory directives - and the cost continues to mount. Look for the continued decline of the community banking sector as we proceed post haste into our new world order.
Don't look now but the laws and regulations just keep on coming...


Banks at risk of going bust tops 700
By David Ellis, staff writer CNN Money
February 23, 2010: 10:28 AM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- More than 700 banks, or nearly one out of every 11, are at risk of going under, according to a report published Tuesday.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said that the number of banks on its so-called "problem list" climbed to 702, its highest level since 1992. At that time, the agency red-flagged 1,066 banks.

The number of banks under scrutiny by regulators has moved steadily higher since the recession began in late 2007. Just 76 financial institutions were on the list in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Banks that end up on the problem list are considered the most likely to fail because of difficulties with their finances, operations or management. Still, few of the lenders that are on the list actually reach the point of failure.
On average, just 13% of banks on the FDIC's problem list have been seized and shuttered by regulators. So far this year, 20 banks have failed, putting the FDIC on track to shutter at least as many institutions as it did in 2009. Last year, the FDIC seized a total of 140 lenders nationwide.
"Bank failures can be cyclical and I think as we have said, the pace is probably going to pick up this year," said FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair.
The names of the banks on the list are never made available to the general public by regulators out of fear that depositors at those institutions may prompt a so-called "run on the bank."