Bloomberg writes "FDIC Guarantee Program Set to Expire After Senate Block". The article says, "A Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. program that expanded safeguards for business bank accounts will probably expire at the end of this year after the U.S. Senate failed to advance a proposal for an extension. A 50-42 vote on a procedural motion fell 10 short of the 60 needed to move forward on a two-year extension of the Transaction Account Guarantee Program, effectively killing it. The TAG program, introduced in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, guarantees $1.5 trillion in non-interest bearing accounts above the FDIC's general limit of $250,000. An initial extension is set to end Dec. 31." In other news, the ICI's latest weekly "Money Market Mutual Fund Assets" shows money fund assets increasing for the fifth straight week. It says, "Total money market mutual fund assets increased by $1.53 billion to $2.645 trillion for the week ended Wednesday, December 12, the Investment Company Institute reported today. Taxable government funds decreased by $7.26 billion, taxable non-government funds increased by $8.38 billion, and tax-exempt funds increased by $410 million."
