Federal Deposit Insurance Corp

he number of banks in financial trouble nationwide is expected to grow this year, but any failures should be manageable, one of the country’s top banking regulators said Tuesday. New data on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s so-called troubled-bank list will show an increase over the current 76 banks on the list, Sheila Bair, chairman of the FDIC, said. But, she cautioned “that is not a big number” and that increase will not necessarily lead to a wave of bank failures.

As if the economy wasn't already fighting enough strong headwinds, the risk of capital shortfalls and outright failure of the nation's banks is rising. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the federal agency that backs bank deposits, last week reported the biggest jump in "problem institutions" it has seen since the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s. While the extent of the problem is still low by historic standards, it identified 76 banks as in trouble - a 52% increase from a year ago.