Banking rests on public confidence and public confidence rests on the soundness of the two insurance funds managed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Legislation that the President signed Monday night will make both of our funds sound, benefitting everyone. I want to commend the American Bankers Association, the Independent Bankers Association of America, America's Community Bankers, and the other banking trade groups that worked to find a constructive solution to a problem created by no financial institution operating today, but from whose ill effects everyone would have suffered.
Deposit insurance is one of the few certainties in an uncertain financial world.
We can now all look to the future with greater assurance, and focus on the competitiveness and other issues that deserve and require our attention. There are several measures that we could use to assess the condition of the banking industry and its direction in the future. Market share and profitability are two popular gauges. Both of these measures reveal important trends, but neither alone can summarize banking's condition today or its future tomorrow. The banking industry's declining market share relative to other financial intermediaries has led to grim assessments about the industry's future.