The combined unrealized losses sitting on the books of US banks “remain elevated” despite recording a quarter-on-quarter decline, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
The FDIC says the US banking industry’s total unrealized losses on securities that will be held to maturity, plus the securities that are available for sale, fell by double-digit percentage points quarter-on-quarter in the three-month period that ended in September.
“Total unrealized losses decreased $58.2 billion (14.7 percent) from the prior quarter to $337.1 billion. This is the lowest level of unrealized losses for the industry since first quarter 2022.”
The quarterly credit loss provisions, on the other hand, fell from $30 billion in the second quarter to $20.8 billion in the third quarter.
According to the banking regulator, the number of banks on the “FDIC’s ‘Problem Bank List’”, a list showing banks on the brink of financial insolvency, also slightly dipped in Q3.
“The total number of banks on the list decreased by a net of two in the third quarter to 57 banks. The number of problem banks is 1.3 percent of total banks, which is in the normal range for non-crisis periods of 1 to 2 percent of all banks. No banks opened or failed during the third quarter.”
The FDIC further says,
“In conclusion, the banking industry continued to show resilience in third quarter 2025. However, the industry still faces challenges, such as weakness in certain loan portfolios and elevated unrealized losses. These issues will remain matters of ongoing supervisory attention by the FDIC.”
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