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2 min read Published May 01, 2023
Matthew Goldberg 
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Nell McPherson 
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Bank failures have been rare in the past few years. But after First Republic Bank’s May 1 failure — the largest since Washington Mutual in 2008 — it’s important to see where these bank failures fall historically.
Here are the seven largest bank failures
| Bank name | Bank failure date | Assets* |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Mutual Bank | Sept. 25, 2008 | $307 billion |
| First Republic Bank | May 1, 2023 | $212 billion** |
| Silicon Valley Bank | March 10, 2023 | $209 billion** |
| Signature Bank | March 12, 2023 | $110 billion** |
| IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. | July 11, 2008 | $31 billion |
| Colonial Bank | Aug. 14, 2009 | $26 billion |
| First Republic Bank-Dallas, N.A. | July 29, 1998 | $17 billion |
*Assets rounded to nearest billion
**From the Federal Reserve as of Dec. 31, 2022
*** This list only includes failures and does not include banks that were provided assistance.
Bank failures have been uncommon in recent history
Around 867 days passed between Almena State Bank’s failure on Oct. 23, 2020, and Silicon Valley Bank’s failure on March 10, 2023.
This means that the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures were actually the first of President Biden’s term. And there were 16 when President Trump was in office.
Even those 16 failures during President Trump’s term aren’t a lot compared with years such as 2012-2014. And 2009 and 2010 were definitely special circ*mstances with the Great Recession.
| Year | Number of bank failures | Year | Number of bank failures |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 | 2011 | 92 |
| 2022 | 0 | 2010 | 157 |
| 2021 | 0 | 2009 | 140 |
| 2020 | 4 | 2008 | 25 |
| 2019 | 4 | 2007 | 3 |
| 2018 | 0 | 2006 | 0 |
| 2017 | 8 | 2005 | 0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 2004 | 4 |
| 2015 | 8 | 2003 | 3 |
| 2014 | 18 | 2002 | 11 |
| 2013 | 24 | 2001 | 4 |
| 2012 | 51 |
Always make sure your money is FDIC insured
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a year with no bank failures or 2010, with 157 failures — it’s crucial to always make sure your money is at an FDIC-insured bank, within FDIC insurance limits and following the FDIC’s rules.
This current crisis — as well as the Great Recession — taught us that even big banks can fail.
