The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

The FDIC was created in 1933 in response to the thousands of bank failures that occurred during the Great Depression. Its primary mission is to maintain stability and public confidence in the U.S. financial system. It accomplishes this by insuring deposits in banks and thrift institutions (up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category), examining and supervising financial institutions for safety, soundness, and consumer protection, and managing receiverships to resolve failing banks. The FDIC is funded by premiums that banks and savings associations pay for deposit insurance coverage and from earnings on investments in U.S. Treasury securities; it receives no congressional appropriations.