Is another federal lifeline required? The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, backer of US bank accounts, needs a top-up. The insurance fund’s balance relative to insured deposits has fallen to 1.01 per cent, the lowest since the 1990s. A plan is required to bring the fund back to its target level of 1.25 per cent within five years. Aside from raising industry premiums, the FDIC has other last-ditch funding arrangements, including a Treasury credit line.

As yet, it does not need them. True, the number of banks on the FDIC’s so-called problem list rose by 30 per cent to 117 at the end of June. Assets held by those banks almost tripled. But stripping out $32bn from IndyMac’s July failure, the average size of problematic banks is only about $400m. Their total assets represent a mere one-third of one per cent of the banking system.