U.S, FDIC approves plan to have banks prepay fees

WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - U.S. banks will prepay three years of industry fees to give the government cash to handle the rising tide of bank failures, under a rule finalized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp on Thursday.

The industry has generally spoken favorably of the approach because banks would pay about $45 billion in cash upfront but not have to book the expense until the assessments came regularly due over the three years.

Likewise, the FDIC would not be able to use the money to bring up the balance of the insurance fund that safeguards bank deposits, but it would have operating liquidity.

The prepayment has been described as an alternative to imposing another hefty emergency fee on the still-recovering industry, or having the FDIC tap its line of credit with the Treasury Department. (Reporting by Karey Wutkowski, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)