Bank Insurance Fee Talks Pose Complicated Challenges for FDIC

FDIC officials are openly discussing possible changes to how banks pay for deposit insurance, hoping to get the agency better prepared for economic downturns.

The discussions have picked up pace following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, but putting those ideas into practice will be an uphill climb.

Two of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board members—Vice Chairman Travis Hill, a Republican, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra,—said at an April 18 board meeting that the deposit insurer should look for ways to replenish the agency’s Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) when banks are flush.

Chopra went ...