Summary Box: Bank Failures Are Mounting

The Associated Press

WAVE OF BANK FAILURES: Eighty-one banks have been closed by regulators so far this year, the most since 1992 at the height of the savings-and-loan crisis. The biggest this year: Colonial BancGroup Inc., with about $25 billion in assets.

WHY ARE THEY FAILING?: Some of the recent failures are smaller banks, undone not by exotic mortgage products and securities but by garden-variety loans that have soured during the recession. Some big, complex banks are collapsing as well.

WHAT'S THE FALLOUT?: Billions are being drained from the federal deposit insurance fund, which stood at $13 billion — its lowest level since 1993 — at the end of March.