BANKING & FINANCE - Sept. 12, 1996

U.S. Commercial Banks’ Earnings Rise 6%: For the second quarter, they posted $13.8 billion in earnings, the second-highest level ever, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. That’s 6% above the $12 billion for the first quarter, and also above the $12 billion for the second quarter of 1995. Banks posted their best earnings ever, $13.8 billion for the quarter of 1995. For the latest quarter, 72% of FDIC-regulated banks improved their earnings for the second quarter compared with a year earlier. Separately, savings banks and thrifts insured by the FDIC reported second-quarter earnings of $2.6 billion, $687 million more than for last year’s second quarter, and $50 million more than for the first quarter of 1996. For the second quarter in a row, the FDIC reported that no thrifts insured by the agency failed.