Federal Home Loan Bank Board Chairman M. Danny Wall, under fire for his handling of the nation's thrift crisis, says the sickest savings and loan associations will be dealt with by the end of the month.
Wall's remarks at an industry conference coincided with a proposal from the National Council of Savings Institutions that the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., an arm of the Bank Board, be phased out. It said healthy thrifts should instead be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the commercial banks' insurance fund.Currently about one-sixth of the nation's thrifts are insolvent, putting great pressure on the healthy portion of the industry.
"By the end of this month, we'll have dealt with the worst cases," Wall said at the National Council Management Conference this week. The meeting was sponsored by the National Council of Savings Institutions.
FDIC Chairman William Seidman, concerned that the thrift problem might undermine confidence in the banking industry, last week suggested that $30 billion be used to close 100 or so of the sickest thrifts.
Without mentioning Seidman by name, Wall said, "Yes, give us $30 billion more and we'll deal with the problem." The FSLIC, which insures thrift deposits, is bankrupt.
He said the question of funding FSLIC would rest with Congress.