In a year of bank failures, public feels little effect

America’s community banking crisis may go down as one of the biggest nonevents of the current financial crisis. This is, perversely, both an indictment and a testimony to the regulatory system charged with overseeing our financial institutions and protecting consumers. “FDIC Friday” has been a fixture on the calendar since 2008. That’s the day dark-suited staff from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. quietly swoop into a city to shut down a troubled bank. It’s happened almost 300 times during the past two years, with 2010 seeing the most bank failures in almost two decades.