Federal Deposit

WASHINGTON -- More than 90 percent of the nation's commercial banks could pay no federal deposit insurance premiums in 1996 under an agreement reached last night by U.S. lawmakers.The agreement reached by members of the House and Senate Banking Committees would prevent the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from holding reserves equal to more than 1.25 percent of the $1.9 trillion in deposits it backs. The banking package, which now goes to the respective budget committees for inclusion in the overall budget-reconciliation bill, includes $4.8 billion in savings over seven years.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court significantly narrowed yesterday the federal government's power to collect damages from lawyers and accountants who gave faulty advice that helped lead thrift institutions into financial trouble.In a ruling that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. had warned would threaten federal claims of negligence totaling $1.5 billion, the court unanimously ruled that the FDIC -- after taking over a failed thrift -- does not have authority under federal law to sue thrift advisers for negligent professional advice.

For the third year in a row, the owners of Harrison's Pier V, the financially troubled Inner Harbor hotel and restaurant, have failed to pay their property taxes to the city, according to Baltimore tax records.They now owe $1.1 million in back property taxes with interest, according to city records.In addition, the owners owe the city $1 million in overdue payments on loans and on their lease of the prime waterfront land they rent from the city.The heavily subsidized hotel-restaurant, just east of the National Aquarium, opened in June 1989 with a 71-room inn and a waterfront restaurant resembling a lighthouse.

New York -- If you're covered by a company pension plan, get ready for a shock. Any money that plan keeps in a bank or S&L may soon lose most of its protection under federal deposit insurance.Big and small companies need to check this out immediately. Workers should show this column to their employers. If your company does indeed bank some of its pension-plan money, ask for written assurance that those funds remain federally insured.This startling new risk arises from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act, whose provisions started taking effect a year ago. Congress' intent was to lower the drain on the federal deposit insurance fund by encouraging customers not to deal with unsound banks.

Bank runs are supposed to be a thing of the past, from a time before federal deposit insurance was adopted.But yesterday, a run developed at Metro North State Bank in Kansas City, Mo., caused in part by depositors' fears that bank insurance can no longer be completely trusted."

That deafening silence heard throughout Maryland and the nation today is the sound of bank and thrift doors remaining open.Despite months of dire warnings that hundreds of banking companies might be shut following the presidential election -- including a mid-debate caution from candidate Ross Perot -- federal agencies say there was no reason to fear a "December surprise." They say they have no intention of seizing large numbers of financial institutions in the wake of today's well-publicized deadline, which forces regulators to act against weak banks and thrifts.

Baltimore Bancorp has filed suit against its former attorneys, alleging legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty and asking the court to relieve the banking company of its hefty legal bill.The lawsuit, filed last week in the Superior Court of Washington, claims attorney Dennis Gingold and his law firm, Dickstein, Shapiro & Morin, leaked confidential information to the press, poisoned the company's relations with federal regulators and improperly advised current and former directors of the company about their resignations from the board.

Altered tomato approvedA genetically altered tomato that's supposed to have that summertime, farm-stand taste moved closer to grocery store shelves yesterday when the Agriculture Department said it would no longer regulate the "Flavr Savr" tomato. "Flavr Savr" is the trademark for a tomato developed by Calgene Inc., of Davis, Calif. It resists spoilage and can be picked and shipped at a tasty, red-ripe stage. The company expects to market the tomato commercially by late next summer.The Food and Drug Administration, however, must declare "Flavr Savr" a food before Calgene can begin marketing the tomato to consumers.

Cash is king again, and there are bargains galore. Nearly everything is inexpensive. But for the conservative investor who just wants a haven for cash and a reasonable rate of return, the options are getting slimmer. Banks are in trouble, and interest rates are down.The days may be gone when a depositor or investor could put money away for a rainy day and rest assured it was still there when the weather took a turn for the worse.Commercial banks and savings and loan associations have been the beneficiaries of the conservative fiscal practices of Americans since the early 1930s, when federal deposit insurance was put in place to restore the confidence of a frightened nation.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration will be calling next week for a strict limit of $100,000 per person for federal deposit insurance coverage on bank accounts, officials said yesterday.As the chief of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. disclosed that the insurance funds would be nearly exhausted by the end of the year, administration officials said President Bush's plan to revamp the bank laws will ask Congress to limit coverage to $100,000 for any combination of insured checking and savings accounts.

FDIC adds new fee system to replenish insurance fund WASHINGTON - Federal regulators on Friday adopted a new system of special fees paid by U.S. financial institutions that will shift more of the burden to bigger banks to help replenish the deposit insurance fund. The move by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. cut by about two-thirds the amount of special fees to be levied on banks and thrifts. It followed protests by small and community banks against a plan adopted in February that charged premiums based on the amount of deposits.

Federal banking regulators have told Crofton-based Suburban Federal Savings Bank that it must be sold by Friday or face a possible government takeover. The 53-year-old thrift has been trying to recover from losses on soured real-estate loans. In documents filed last week, the Office of Thrift Supervision ordered Suburban to merge with another institution or accept "appointment of a conservator or receiver." If Suburban were to be seized, it would be the first bank to fail in Maryland since 1992, the tail end of the savings and loan crisis.

WASHINGTON - When it comes to the money in your bank account, security has a price. And it's going up. With the failure of IndyMac Bank and a dozen other institutions draining the government's deposit insurance fund well below its mandated level - and projections of more failures to come - federal regulators moved yesterday to replenish the fund, giving initial approval to a five-year plan that would more than double the amount banks pay to insure their...

WASHINGTON -- More than 90 percent of the nation's commercial banks could pay no federal deposit insurance premiums in 1996 under an agreement reached last night by U.S. lawmakers.The agreement reached by members of the House and Senate Banking Committees would prevent the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from holding reserves equal to more than 1.25 percent of the $1.9 trillion in deposits it backs. The banking package, which now goes to the respective budget committees for inclusion in the overall budget-reconciliation bill, includes $4.8 billion in savings over seven years.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court significantly narrowed yesterday the federal government's power to collect damages from lawyers and accountants who gave faulty advice that helped lead thrift institutions into financial trouble.In a ruling that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. had warned would threaten federal claims of negligence totaling $1.5 billion, the court unanimously ruled that the FDIC -- after taking over a failed thrift -- does not have authority under federal law to sue thrift advisers for negligent professional advice.

For the third year in a row, the owners of Harrison's Pier V, the financially troubled Inner Harbor hotel and restaurant, have failed to pay their property taxes to the city, according to Baltimore tax records.They now owe $1.1 million in back property taxes with interest, according to city records.In addition, the owners owe the city $1 million in overdue payments on loans and on their lease of the prime waterfront land they rent from the city.The heavily subsidized hotel-restaurant, just east of the National Aquarium, opened in June 1989 with a 71-room inn and a waterfront restaurant resembling a lighthouse.

That deafening silence heard throughout Maryland and the nation today is the sound of bank and thrift doors remaining open.Despite months of dire warnings that hundreds of banking companies might be shut following the presidential election -- including a mid-debate caution from candidate Ross Perot -- federal agencies say there was no reason to fear a "December surprise." They say they have no intention of seizing large numbers of financial institutions in the wake of today's well-publicized deadline, which forces regulators to act against weak banks and thrifts.

New York -- If you're covered by a company pension plan, get ready for a shock. Any money that plan keeps in a bank or S&L may soon lose most of its protection under federal deposit insurance.Big and small companies need to check this out immediately. Workers should show this column to their employers. If your company does indeed bank some of its pension-plan money, ask for written assurance that those funds remain federally insured.This startling new risk arises from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act, whose provisions started taking effect a year ago. Congress' intent was to lower the drain on the federal deposit insurance fund by encouraging customers not to deal with unsound banks.

Altered tomato approvedA genetically altered tomato that's supposed to have that summertime, farm-stand taste moved closer to grocery store shelves yesterday when the Agriculture Department said it would no longer regulate the "Flavr Savr" tomato. "Flavr Savr" is the trademark for a tomato developed by Calgene Inc., of Davis, Calif. It resists spoilage and can be picked and shipped at a tasty, red-ripe stage. The company expects to market the tomato commercially by late next summer.The Food and Drug Administration, however, must declare "Flavr Savr" a food before Calgene can begin marketing the tomato to consumers.

Baltimore Bancorp has filed suit against its former attorneys, alleging legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty and asking the court to relieve the banking company of its hefty legal bill.The lawsuit, filed last week in the Superior Court of Washington, claims attorney Dennis Gingold and his law firm, Dickstein, Shapiro & Morin, leaked confidential information to the press, poisoned the company's relations with federal regulators and improperly advised current and former directors of the company about their resignations from the board.