Forecasts of bank failure costs cut

AMERICAN financial regulators estimate that the cost of bank failures will drop with the economy recovering and the banking industry becoming more stable.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said yesterday it estimates that US bank failures will cost the industry-backed insurance fund about $45 billion (27.7bn) between 2010 and 2014, compared with a previous estimate of $52bn. The Deposit Insurance Fund guarantees individual accounts up to $250,000.