List of Troubled Banks at 16-Year Peak

After weathering the nation’s worst run of bank failures in two decades, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced Tuesday it has added 450 institutions to its list of challenged lenders in 2009. The number of so-called problem banks rose to 702 at the end of 2009, compared to 252 a year earlier. Both the number of troubled institutions and their total assets are at the highest level since 1993, putting huge strain on the government-administered insurance fund that protects customer deposits. With banks failing in growing numbers, the F.D.I.C. said its insurance fund ended 2009 with a deficit of $21 billion. That position was nearly $38 billion weaker than a year earlier. The bulk of that decline reflected funds the F.D.I.C. is setting aside to cope with future losses. The FDIC’s report suggested many of the nation’s 8,100 lenders broke even during 2009 but that many remain in fragile condition.