The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was established as an independent agency of the federal government in 1933 at a time when public faith in the banking system was drastically low. The organization was created to improve and preserve confidence in banks and protect the supply of money by providing insurance for bank deposits and instituting periodic examinations of banks the agency insures.
Organized by the Federal Reserve Act of 1933, which was amended in 1950, the FDIC is managed by a five-person board of directors. The board consists of a comptroller of the currency, a director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, and three presidential appointees, including the chairperson and vice chairperson. There is a Division of Liquidation, a Legal Division, a Division of Accounting and Corporate Services, and a Division of Research and Statistics. There is a single executive director for the divisions of Supervision and Resolution. These two divisions have regional offices, each of which is headed by a director. FDIC field employees are mostly bank examiners and liquidators.
