Bank failures have been rare in the past few years. But after Silicon Valley Bank’s failure — the largest since Washington Mutual in 2008 — on March 10 and Signature Bank’s failure on March 12, it’s important to see where these bank failures fall historically.

Here are the six largest bank failures

Bank name Bank failure date Assets*
Washington Mutual Bank Sept. 25, 2008 $307 billion
Silicon Valley Bank March 10, 2023 $209 billion**
Signature Bank March 12, 2023 $110 billion**
IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. July 11, 2008 $31 billion
Colonial Bank Aug. 14, 2009 $26 billion
First Republic Bank-Dallas, N.A. July 29, 1998 $17 billion

*Assets rounded to nearest billion
**From the Federal Reserve as of Dec. 31, 2022
*** This list only includes failures and does not include banks that were provided assistance.

Bank failures have been uncommon in recent history

Around 867 days passed between Almena State Bank’s failure on Oct. 23, 2020, and Silicon Valley Bank’s failure on March 10, 2023.

This means that the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures were actually the first of President Biden’s term. And there were 16 when President Trump was in office.

Even those 16 failures during President Trump’s term aren’t a lot compared with years such as 2012-2014. And 2009 and 2010 were definitely special circumstances with the Great Recession.

Year Number of bank failures Year Number of bank failures
2023 2 2011 92
2022 0 2010 157
2021 0 2009 140
2020 4 2008 25
2019 4 2007 3
2018 0 2006 0
2017 8 2005 0
2016 5 2004 4
2015 8 2003 3
2014 18 2002 11
2013 24 2001 4
2012 51

Always make sure your money is FDIC insured

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a year with no bank failures or 2010, with 157 failures — it’s crucial to always make sure your money is at an FDIC-insured bank, within FDIC insurance limits and following the FDIC’s rules.

This week — as well as the Great Recession — taught us that even big banks can fail.