Regulators could go two weeks in a row without closing a bank for the first time in more than 18 months.
That's because banks that opened for business last Friday experienced something that is unusual these days: none were shut down by regulators at the end of the day.
Regulators have seized 118 banks so far this year, compared with 84 in the corresponding period of 2009.
Only once in the last year -- April 2 -- has a non-holiday weekend gone by without any bank closures, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. records.
Since regulators often don't close banks on holiday weekends -- and Labor Day weekend begins Friday -- that means the country could potentially go two weeks in a row without bank closures.
At a time when banks are closed almost every weekend, a two-week span without a closure seems almost unheard of. The last time the country went two weeks without a bank failure was Christmas Day 2009 to New Year's Day 2010.
If you discount that weekend, the last time the U.S. saw two weeks in a row without closings was New Year's Day 2009 and the following week.
The last time there were two consecutive non-holiday weekends without a bank closure was Friday, Aug. 8, 2008 and Friday, Aug. 15, 2008.
BailoutSleuth asked the FDIC why there were no bank closures Friday. Greg Hernandez, a spokesman for the agency, said the FDIC isn't responsible for the closures -- that decision belongs toother state or federal regulatory agencies -- and the FDIC simply helps coordinate when it will be named receiver. "It's up to the respective regulators to decide when they want to close a bank," Hernandez said.
One reason for the lack of closures may be the quantity of banks that went under the week before, making the FDIC and other regulators busier than usual.
Eight banks were closed Aug. 20. The last time more banks failed on a single day was when nine failed on Oct. 30, 2009.
Still, it remains to be seen whether the FDIC will take a week off for Labor Day or plow through it.
Often, regulators do not close banks on the Friday of a three-day weekend. This year, for example, banks have been spared on the Friday before Independence Day, George Washington's Birthday, and New Year's Day.
But that's not a hard and fast rule. Banks were closed the Fridays before Memorial Day and Martin Luther King Day.
Five banks were closed on Friday, Sept. 4, 2009, a Labor Day weekend. And one was shuttered on Friday, Aug. 29, 2008, which also preceded Labor Day.
Undoubtedly, bank officials' whose institutions are teetering will be encouraging their colleagues at state and federal regulatory agencies to enjoy their upcoming long weekend and take some much-deserved time off.