CLARKONOMICS: Is your bank financially healthy? A new analysis from
Barron's takes a hard look at the 13 largest banks in the United States and has identified seven that are effectively insolvent.
The single most troubled bank in the nation is Citibank. As Clark has said previously, we taxpayers are about $400 billion on the hook for this bank's assets. Bank of America follows closely as the second most troubled bank. Rounding out the "Dirty Seven" are PNC, Wells-Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, US Bancorp and Bank of New York.
The other six banks of the 13 largest institutions -- BB&T, Capital One, Comerica, KeyCorp, Marshall & Isley and Sun Trust -- are all adequately capitalized and healthy at this time, according to
Barron's standards.
Of course, some would probably argue with the
Barron's results and debate their methodology.
But the more important question is this: What do you do if you have money with one of the seven troubled banks? First, don't panic! Your money is safe up to $250,000 under current FDIC terms.
In Clark's experience, when a bank gets into trouble, the quality of customer service is what really declines. If you're a small business owner, you may want to move your business elsewhere for that reason alone.
