Maryland's 134 insured banks in 2002 reported total assets of $60 billion. Sixty-one of those banks were state-chartered.
Fourteen savings institutions in Maryland were enrolled in the Resolution Trust Corporations (RTC) joint regulatory oversight program in 1999—these institutions had combined assets of over $8 billion and combined deposits exceeding $5.5 billion through nearly 842,000 accounts. In 1995, the RTC successfully resolved 14 institutions, at a cost of $1.5 billion.
All state-chartered savings and loan associations are regulated by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, within the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
In 2002, a reduction in short-term interest rates helped lower banks' funding costs and offset the decline in asset yields reflecting declines in long-term interest rates. Funding costs were at near historic lows in 2002. Following the start of the 2001 US recession, the median past-due loan ratio for insured institutions headquartered in Maryland increased, but subsequently declined as of the end of 2002. At that time, the ratio was significantly below the national average. As of September 2002, over 40% of the state's insured institutions had a high level of traditionally higher-risk loans.