DIF ratio increased to required level

The FDIC Board has adopted a proposal to increase the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) to the statutorily required minimum level of 1.35 percent. The Dodd-Frank Act increased the minimum for the DIF reserve ratio, the ratio of the amount in the fund to insured deposits, from 1.15 percent to 1.35 percent and required that the ratio reach 1.35 percent by September 30, 2020. The Act also made banks with $10 billion or more in total assets responsible for the increase from 1.15 percent to 1.35 percent. Under a rule adopted by the FDIC in 2011, regular assessment rates for all banks will decline when the reserve ratio reaches 1.15 percent, which the FDIC expects will occur in early 2016. Banks with total assets of less than $10 billion will have substantially lower assessment rates under the 2011 rule. The proposed rule would impose on banks with at least $10 billion in assets a surcharge of 4.5 cents per $100 of their assessment base, after making certain adjustments. The FDIC expects the reserve ratio would likely reach 1.35 percent after approximately two years of payments of the proposed surcharges. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be published in the Federal Register and comments will be due 60 days after the date of publication.

Statements on the proposed rule and ratio increase were released by FDIC Chairman Gruenberg and by Comptroller of the Currency Curry.

Updates:

• Published in Federal Register at 80 FR 68780 on November 6, 2015, with Comment Deadline of January 5, 2016.
• FDIC FIL-53-2015, November 17, 2015, on the proposal.