Bank Failures: What Happens After

Check out the amazing video below from CBS's "60 Minutes" program, from a segment entitled "Your Bank Has Failed: What Happens Next?"

The segment shows what happens when the FDIC takes over a failed bank - the FDIC granted CBS unprecedented coverage of the event to help consumers understand what happens to their money in the event that this happens. It's fascinating stuff.



A lot of people are worried about their banks these days. While devastated giants like Citigroup get bailed out again and again and again, many smaller banks are failing. The federal agency that takes over unsound banks is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - the same people who guarantee depositors won't lose their money.

Most every Friday night now the FDIC seizes several banks. You haven't seen these takeovers happening because they're done secretly at night to make sure there's no needless panic by depositors.

But last week 60 Minutes and correspondent Scott Pelley were given extraordinary access to one of these operations because the FDIC wants you to know what happens to your money when your bank has failed.