Should Americans worry about 'FDIC Friday?'

More than 70 U.S. financial institutions have failed in 2010, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). When a bank is no longer sound, the FDIC steps in to safeguard depositors’ money and liquidate the failed institution.

The FDIC has been busy so far in 2010, and it had a busy 2009 as well – 140 FDIC-insured institutions failed last year. When the FDIC has to announce a bank has failed, it usually does so on a Friday, sometime after 5pm, which has inspired the phrase “FDIC Friday.”