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bank failure

bank failure

6 5.0
A bank that cannot pay its debts and closes
  • noun
  • /bæŋk ˈfeɪljər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : quiebra bancaria
  • The recent bank failure left many customers without access to their savings.
  • bank failure rate
  • number of bank failures
  • wave of bank failures

It's worth noting that bank failures are not actually that uncommon.

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Examples

  • In the absence of deposit insurance, other mechanisms served to maintain stability and limit bank failures.

    Academic text (2016)
  • They clamored for Congressional investigations into the current banking system and offered their expertise in drafting reforms that would protect the public against future bank failures.

  • As mentioned earlier, private management tends to reduce bank risk and the rate of bank failures.

    Academic text (2016)
  • The country had no serious commercial bank failures while they were in place, and no financial crisis infected the real economy.

    Academic text (2010)
  • It's worth noting that bank failures are not actually that uncommon.

  • The failure of First Republic Bank was the second largest bank failure in the United States's entire history.

  • And so making sure this bank failure did not ricochet to the rest of the banking system is a smart decision.

  • Deposit insurance creates two conflicting forces that influence bank failures.

    Academic text (2016)
  • Given the concerns about systemic risk in the aftermath of the financial crisis, investors continued to seek protection against bank failures.

    Academic text (2016)
  • Some research suggests that widespread bank failures have instead been caused by macroeconomic contractions (Rolnick and Weber 1986, Selgin 1989b).

    Academic text (1991)

Synonyms

failure
vsbank failure
  • Specialized
69 3.4

Not being able to pay debts when they are due

is a financial institution's inability to meet obligations that ends its operations
insolvency
vsbank failure
  • Specialized
12 6.8

A situation when someone cannot pay money they owe

is the same inability but leading a financial institution to stop operating
bank closing
vsbank failure
1 5.0

A bank that shuts down because it cannot pay its debts

is inability to meet financial obligations that causes operations to cease

Antonyms

solvency
  • Specialized
15 6.2

Ability of a person or company to pay all debts when they are due

How Severe

bank failure
  • Specialized
6 5.0
insolvency
  • Specialized
12 6.8

Surface Forms

bank failure singular
bank failures plural

Morphology

bank + failure

The meaning of 'bank failure' is compositionally derived from 'bank' (a financial institution) and 'failure' (the state of not succeeding/insolvency); together they straightforwardly indicate a bank becoming insolvent or ceasing operations. This noun-noun combination follows a common cross-linguistic pattern (e.g., Spanish 'quiebra bancaria') and would be readily understood by a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Bank failure is made of bank, a place that keeps people's money, and failure, a collapse or stop. Imagine a bank with its doors closed and customers who cannot get their money. That's why the term means a bank that 'cannot pay its bills' and must close.