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FDIC-insured banks safe, FDIC says

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. consumers' money in an insured bank is safe as long as its within the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage limits, the FDIC head said Thursday.

"If you stay within our coverage limits, your money is absolutely safe," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said on CBS' "Early Show. "(That) guarantee has been good for 75 years and will continue to be so. Nobody has ever lost a penny of FDIC-insured deposits."

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Even with Lehman Brothers declaring bankruptcy and the federal government stepping in to financially assist other troubled entities, Bair pointed out that "a lot of this turmoil is occurring outside of the banking sector, outside of insured depository institutions."

The basic FDIC insurance amount is $100,000 per depositor per insured bank.

Investment banks and insurance companies are different from FDIC-insured banks, she said.

"So, actually, for the most part, the FDIC-insured banks have weathered the storm pretty well so far," she said.

That doesn't mean the financial community isn't facing challenges, she said.

"But as at the end of the second quarter, 98 percent of all insured institutions were well capitalized, representing 99 percent of all banking assets," Bair said. "So, so far, banks, insured banks, are weathering the situation pretty well."

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