© 2008 Ira Artman

[Prior] STERLING SLIVERS -  Endangered Specie [theme music] 

DEFINITIONS

• Specie:  noun. Coin, or coined silver, gold, or other metal, used as a circulating medium [money].
• Species: noun. In zoology, an ideal group of individuals which are believed to have descended from common ancestors, which agree in essential characteristics, and are capable of … reproduction.

PRESS RELEASE, FINAL VERSION [1]

The FDIC today announced that the US banking system is in danger of extinction, and has been listed as an endangered industry.

“In spite of protections already in place, banks are not recovering,” said the Director for the FDIC’s Division of Supervision.

Listing the banking system means any federal agency that funds, authorizes, or carries out new projects or activities that may affect banks in the US must first consult with FDIC’s Division of Supervision to determine the potential effects on banks. A federal action must not jeopardize the continued existence of a listed industry.

The banking population declined nearly 50 percent between 1984 and 2003, based on annual surveys. The FDIC estimated the banking population at 7,360 for 2008. Estimates have varied from a high of 14,884 banks and thrifts in 1984 to a then low of 7,842 banks in 2003, followed by an additional 6 percent decline by mid-year 2008, to 7,360 institutions.

The recovery of the US banking system is potentially hindered by the weak US housing market; lack of continued development in the US, the cumulative effects of a lack of important domestic oil and gas exploration, development, and production; and weak industrial activity. The agency will identify conditions essential to the conservation of the banking system in a separate rulemaking within a year.

The FDIC expects the final rule on this decision to be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 22. A pre publication version of the rule is available now on the FDIC’s website. The FDIC maintains the stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system by insuring deposits, examining and supervising financial institutions, and managing receiverships. Visit http://www.fdic.gov.

PRESS RELEASE, WORKING DRAFT

The FDIC NOAA today announced that the US banking system Cook Inlet beluga whale population near Anchorage is in danger of extinction, and has been listed as an endangered industry species.

“In spite of protections already in place, banks Cook Inlet beluga whales are not recovering,” said James Balsiger, Director of NOAA acting assistant administrator for FDIC’s Division of Supervision. NOAA’s Fisheries Service.

Listing the banking system Cook Inlet beluga whales means any federal agency that funds, authorizes, or carries out new projects or activities that may affect banks the whales in the US area must first consult with FDIC’s Division of Supervision NOAA’s Fisheries Service to determine the potential effects on banks the whales. A federal action must not jeopardize the continued existence of a listed industry species.

In 2000, NOAA declared the Cook Inlet beluga population depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In response to a petition submitted by the Trustees for Alaska on April 20, 2006, the agency proposed on April 20, 2007, that Cook Inlet beluga whales be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The act requires a final determination by Oct. 20, 2008. This announcement is the result of NOAA’s scientific review of the proposal to list Cook Inlet belugas.

The banking Cook Inlet beluga population declined nearly 50 percent between 1984 and 2003 1994 and 1998, based on annual scientific surveys. The FDIC NOAA scientists estimated the banking Cook Inlet beluga population at 7,360 375 for both 2007 and 2008. Estimates have varied from a high of 15,084 banks and thrifts 653 belugas in 1984 1994 to a then low of 7,842 278 banks belugas in 2003 2005, followed by an additional 6 percent decline by mid-year 2008, to 7,360 institutions.

Despite restrictions on foreign acquisitions Alaskan Native subsistence harvest of commercial banks Cook Inlet belugas starting in 1999, the population is still not recovering. Between 1999 and 2006, Alaska Native hunters took a total of five Cook Inlet beluga whales for subsistence. No beluga whales were harvested in 2007 or 2008.

Cook Inlet belugas are one of five populations of belugas recognized within U.S. waters. The other beluga populations inhabit Bristol Bay, the eastern Bering Sea, the eastern Chukchi Sea, and the Beaufort Sea. Of the five stocks of beluga whales in Alaska, the Cook Inlet population is considered to be the most isolated, based on the degree of genetic differentiation and geographic distance between the Cook Inlet population and the four other beluga stocks.

The recovery of the US banking system Cook Inlet whales is potentially hindered by the weak US housing market strandings; lack of continued development in the US within and along upper Cook Inlet and, the cumulative effects of a lack of on important domestic beluga habitat; oil and gas exploration, development, and production; and weak industrial activity.ies that discharge or accidentally spill pollutants; disease; and predation by killer whales. The agency will identify conditions habitat essential to the conservation of the banking system Cook Inlet belugas in a separate rulemaking within a year.

The FDIC NOAA expects the final rule on this decision to be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 22. A pre publication version of the rule is available now on the FDIC Alaska Region’s website. The FDIC NOAA maintains the stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system by insuring deposits, examining and supervising financial institutions, and managing receiverships understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources. Visit http://www.fdic.gov www.noaa.gov.

[Endangered Specie Theme music … Up and then fade]

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I used to work with numbers for a living, but now I try to NOT draw attention to myself when I wait in line for a bank teller. Till next time – Ira Artman

FOOTNOTES & REFERENCES

[1] This is a parody. The attitude is mine but the facts are real. Alternative title: Save the whales. For another piece on recent banking declines, see I. Artman, Sterling Slivers: Smoked, Oct 18 2008.

 
Dictionary.com. Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc., Definition: species, accessed: Oct 20 2008.
 
K.D. Jones and T. Critchfield, FDIC Banking Review: Consolidation in the U.S. Banking Industry: Is the “Long, Strange Trip” About to End?, Jan 2006. [note to self: Who at the FDIC listens to the Grateful Dead, and why are they still employed? If so, do they have anything to do with the FDIC’s insurance fund?  Are they ever left in same room, alone, with it? How can I get that gig?]
 
NOAA Fisheries Service, NOAA Lists Cook Inlet Beluga Whales as Endangered [pdf, copy of unredacted press release], Oct 17 2008. Beluga photo also from NOAA, Fisheries Service: Hot Topics/Current Events, accessed: Oct 20 2008. 
 
Raffi, “Baby Beluga – Joshua Giraffe: Baby Beluga, Rhapsody, Rounder Records, 1980.