Zhitong Finance App learned that after experiencing early turmoil in 2023, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), one of the top regulators of the US banking industry, released a mixed second-quarter banking profit report. The report showed that during this period, deposits in the US banking sector declined slightly and profits increased year-on-year.
According to information, the FDIC said in its quarterly banking overview of 4,645 banks that it underwrote on Thursday that the number of banks facing financial, operational, or management defects on its confidential “list of problem banks” was 43, which is the same as in the first quarter. This period was characterized by the collapse of the First Republic Bank (FRCB.US) after rapidly rising interest rates depreciated its holdings. Then, in March of this year, Signature Bank (SBNY.US) and Silicon Valley Bank (SIVBQ.US) also went out of business one after another.
FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said in a statement, “Despite the pressure earlier this year, the banking sector continues to be resilient. As measured by historical data, net profit is still high, asset quality indicators are stable, and the industry has sufficient capital.”
Looking ahead, Gruenberg said banks are being hit by inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainty. The FDIC is carefully reviewing the commercial real estate market, particularly the office market, and is monitoring funding levels and net interest spread pressures.
Gruenberg said rising interest rates and inflation could lead to a decline in credit quality, which could lead to further tightening of loan underwriting. His remarks echo what bankers said in the Federal Reserve's investigation of senior loan officials in July. The survey found that banks in the US have raised a wide range of consumer and business loan standards and plan to further tighten them in the second half of this year.
Overall, the net profit of banks covered by the FDIC for the second quarter increased 10% over the same period last year to US$70.8 billion, but decreased 11% from the first quarter of 2023. Gruenberg said that considering accounting for acquisitions of bankrupt banks, this data may be biased. After excluding these factors, profits are basically at a relatively high level.
Total deposits in the US banking sector declined
Total deposits declined for the fifth consecutive quarter, but compared with the first quarter of this year, the decline was less than 1%, mainly due to a decrease in uninvested savings.
Earlier this year, some of the biggest banks initially announced large inflows of new deposits as worried customers fled to smaller banks. However, as clients sought higher returns from higher-yielding alternative investments such as money market funds, Gruenberg said, even industry giants eventually experienced capital outflows.
The FDIC said that as of June 30, the capital size of its bedrock insurance fund had increased to 117 billion US dollars, an increase of 897 million US dollars over the end of the first quarter. Last quarter, the regulator used the fund to ensure the safety of all depositors at Silicon Valley banks and signature banks, and proposed a measure to help supplement the fund by receiving a special assessment from banks.
It's worth mentioning that at the beginning of this year, Bank of America was in turmoil, partly because rising interest rates reduced the value of the bonds they bought when interest rates were lower, causing their book losses to continue to rise. Losses on unrealized securities increased 8.3% to $588 billion during the quarter, but most of these holdings were classified as investments that would remain until maturity, meaning there would be no real loss unless some new turmoil forced banks to sell.