Absent unique circumstances like arson and fraud, it’s highly unusual to lose money held at a bank. Less than 7% of bank failures since the start of 2007 resulted in losses for uninsured depositors, federal data show.
People line up outside of a Silicon Valley Bank office on March 13, 2023 in Santa Clara, California.
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As Silicon Valley Bank was wobbling last month, large account holders with balances exceeding the federal deposit insurance limits panicked, sparked a bank run that ultimately prompted the federal government to step in with a rescue plan, and triggered widespread debate about potential reforms to the federal deposit insurance system.
All that drama, however, was at odds with federal data showing that bank failures stretching back to the start of the 2007-2009 global financial crisis have in aggregate done very little harm…
