NUMBER OF BANKS HITS LOW SINCE DEPRESSION WSJ’

NUMBER OF BANKS HITS LOW SINCE DEPRESSION WSJ’s Ryan Tracy: “The number of banking institutions in the U.S. has dwindled to its lowest level since at least the Great Depression, as a sluggish economy, stubbornly low interest rates and heightened regulation take their toll on the sector. The number of federally insured institutions nationwide shrank to 6,891 in the third quarter after this summer falling below 7,000 for the first time since federal regulators began keeping track in 1934, … The decline in bank numbers, from a peak of more than 18,000, has come almost entirely in the form of exits by banks with less than $100 million in assets, with the bulk occurring between 1984 and 2011. … “[T]he falloff is raising alarms among boosters of community banks, who say such lenders — which represent the vast majority of U.S. banks — are critical to the economy because they are more likely to make small-business loans. The number of physical bank branches in the U.S. is also shrinking. From the end of 2009 through June 30 of this year, the total number of branches dropped 3.2 percent, according to FDIC data.” http://on.wsj.com/18iC9xw