BANKING

U.S. Bank Failures at 13-Year Low, Regulators Say: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said five banks failed in the first half of this year, the lowest midyear figure since 1981. During the first six months of 1993, 23 banks were closed. The FDIC said the low failure rate has boosted the reserves of its bank insurance fund, which at the end of June had $17.5 billion to protect commercial bank deposits. The all-time high mark for the insurance fund was $18.3 billion, set at the end of 1987.