WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush signed the latest deposit insurance reforms into law in February 2006.

The agencies wasted no time approving implementing regulations. For NCUA's part, in swiftly approved regulations codifying the law, which provides for inflationary adjustments to the maximum coverage, currently set at $100,000; increased coverage for retirement accounts from $100,000 to $250,000 per account; limits the acceptance of shares in employee benefit plans to credit unions that are "well capitalized" or "adequately capitalized;" and authorizes the agency to update its official signage for federally insured credit unions. NCUA and FDIC were also required to perform a study and report to Congress within one year on the feasibility of a variety of changes to the federal deposit insurance, including privatization.

The legislation also merged FDIC's Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund; authorized the FDIC Board to set assessments; and establishes a reserve ratio range of 1.15% to 1.50% for a given year rather than the strict 1.25% target.