A 5 cent assessment on banks was approved by FDIC to refill its funds

In a move to replenish its insurance fund the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. voted to charge U.S. banks a one-time fee of 5 cents per every $100 of assets. The decision comes as the regulator had its money supplies run out in the course of compensating for bank failures nationwide.

The fee amount was changed from 20 cents per every $100 of domestic deposits. The original assessment met bitter opposition by organizations representing smaller banks, including the Independent Community Bankers of America.

“This is a major policy shift advocated by ICBA that lowers the special assessment for our nation’s more than 8,000 community banks that didn’t participate in the practices that led to this economic crisis, yet were originally asked to pay for the sins of those who did,” ICBA Chairman R. Michael Menzies said in a statement.

Earlier Congress passed legislation to increase the FDIC’s borrowing authority with the Treasury Department from $30 billion to $100 billion with a proviso for emerging funding up to $500 billion. The FDIC said this step was necessary to reduce the assessment on banks.