At The Green Sheet, we receive frequent inquiries about banks and other financial institutions. Readers want to know how to reach a bank, who the top 10 banks are, or which bank is owned by whom.
While we are happy to provide these services for our readers, there is an excellent site on the Internet that provides this data, and more. It is the National Information Center (NIC) Web site located at http://www.ffiec.gov/nic. The site is operated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and it provides comprehensive information about banks and other institutions for which the Federal Reserve has a supervisory, regulatory, or research interest.
At the site, which is free, you can access a variety of information about the organizational structure and financial state of a particular institution. For example, an "institution search" will yield the following information: institutionís name, address, the type of institution, who it is regulated by, its insurance status, and whether the institution is open or closed. You can also access the institutionís balance sheet, income statement, performance report, securities, deposits, and liabilities.
But thatís not all. You can also request information about the hierarchy of a particular institution. (If you have some time to kill, punch in "bankamerica corp.") You can find out who all the direct and indirect subsidiaries are, as well as find out where and how many branches of that bank are in any given state.
One of the best capabilities of the site is the "what happened to" feature. This is the most fun. If youíre wondering whatever happened to your local bank (Great Western, Barnett, etc.) just punch in the name and you will find out if they are still around, who purchased them, and when. Or, you can reverse it and put in a bank name and find out whom theyíve acquired lately.
You can also find the Top 100 Banks or the Top 100 Bank Holding Companies (by total assets). This search lists the city, state, and total assets of the organization, which is helpful but it also goes a step further and includes a link to additional information about the bank.
The financial information is reliable, as it comes from the organizationsí quarterly reports. For each institution, the most recent five quarters of balance sheets and income statements are available. So, the next time you have a question about an institution, hop online and check out http://www.ffiec.gov/nic.
