Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Definition: A federal institution that insures bank deposits.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Definition:

The federal corporation chartered by Congress in 1933 to promote confidence in the nation's banking system by establishing a federal deposit insurance program and by acting as the primary federal bank regulator of state chartered banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System. The FDIC has a five-member board of directors, all of whom are appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate. The comptroller of the Currency and the director of the Office of Thrift Supervision are two of the five members. The FDIC manages the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund, insuring deposits in commercial and savings institutions.

Additionally, the FDIC acts as the receiver (and occasionally, as conservator) of failed financial institutions. In performing and discharging its role as deposit insurer or as a primary federal bank regulator, the FDIC is considered to be acting in its "corporate capacity," namely, as an agency of the United States government. In contrast, the FDIC acts in a conservatorship or receivership capacity when it performs and discharges its obligations as the conservator or receiver of a failed institution. The FDIC performs its roles in accordance with the statutory conditions, duties, powers, and rights that Congress has imposed on it.