By Tony McVeigh
Frankfort, KY – Kentucky banks are ranked eighth in the nation in a first quarter profitability survey conducted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC. Kentucky Financial Institutions Commissioner Charles Vice says the ranking doesn't surprise him, because Kentucky banks are generally well managed.
"For the most part, our banking industry is still pretty stable. The biggest impact to our banking industry is just the general slowdown in the national and global economies. We're in a recession right now and once that turns around and starts picking back up, I really think we're going to get out of any banking troubles we have just from the economy turning around."
Vice says Kentucky has not had a bank failure since 1981. The only states with banks that outperformed Kentucky banks in the profitability survey were North Dakota, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Oklahoma, West Virginia and New York.