Media leaks pushed US FDIC to find WaMu buyer--Bair

WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - A top U.S. bank regulator said on Thursday her agency acted swiftly to find a buyer for struggling mortgage lender Washington Mutual Inc WM.N to quell customer anxiety fueled by media leaks.

All the deposits and assets of the Seattle-based lender were acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) in a transaction that stamped WaMu as the biggest failure in U.S. bank history, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair said.

Bair said, during a telephone call with reporters, she worried about the potential impact a WaMu failure would have on the FDIC's reserves to insure deposits. She reiterated that there will be more bank failures but the number will be low compared with the savings and loans crisis more than a decade ago. (Reporting by John Poirier; editing by Bernard Orr)