Recommendations for reform The FDIC has made five broad recommendations. 1. Merging BIF and SAIF. The Board supports the FDIC's proposal to merge the BIF and SAIF funds. Because the charters and operations of banks and thrifts have become so similar, it makes no sense to continue the separate funds. Separate funds reflect the past, but neither the present nor the future.
Merging the funds would diversify their risks, reduce administrative expenses, and widen the fund base behind an increasingly concentrated banking system. Most importantly, the federally guaranteed insurance coverage provided to the two sets of institutions are identical, and thus the premiums need to be identical as well.