Three fundamental and interconnected issues should be carefully considered before making any decisions on altering the federal safety net or the structure of the U.S. banking system. The first is whether or not bank depositors and other creditors can exercise timely and meaningful restraint on...

Various proposals to enhance the safety and soundness of the banking system have been debated in recent years. But the debate has generally focused on limiting losses to the deposit insurance funds in order to protect taxpayers, rather than on the broader implications for the banking system and...

In October 1990 questions were raised about real estate problems in the life insurance industry after the ninth largest life company sustained a major loss as a consequence of a write-down of real-estate-related assets. The value of insurance company stocks declined as the financial community...

The failure of the Rhode Island Share and Deposit Indemnity Corporation (RISDIC), a private insurance fund, and the closure of its 45 remaining member institutions froze the accounts of 300,000 individuals and 10 percent of all deposits in the state. While the closure of two institutions...