Sheila Bair

Two Senators introduced legislation today giving the FDIC authority to resolve, or wind down, bank holding companies, which the lawmakers say is an interim step toward addressing broader regulatory reform.

Major indicators of asset quality at U.S. banks continued to deteriorate in the first quarter, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in its quarterly report on the banking system.

Profile in Courage Awards were awarded to Sheila Bair, current chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Brooksley Born, former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The administration’s proposed resolution authority for non-bank financial institutions would put an end to the outmoded concept of “too big to fail,” because it would provide a way for these institutions to fail without disrupting the entire financial system, said Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.