Research Firm: 600 Banks in Danger of Collapse

Monday, November 23, 2009 3:16 PM

By: Dan Weil

Research firm Foresight Analytics says 600 U.S. banks risk failure thanks largely to soured real estate loans — if they don’t fix their balance sheets soon.

That number represents four times the total of banks that already have failed in the past two years.

Foresight Analytics estimates that about 2,200 of the country’s 8,100 banks have taken risks well above the level that usually sparks greater attention from management and regulators, The New York Times reports.

Those 2,200 institutions range from the smallest to major regional banks.

Banking regulators admit that in many respects they were asleep at the switch when it came to restricting banks’ excessive risk taking.

“We all could have done a better job,â€