According to its own estimates, the FDIC will sustain losses exceeding $36 billion to cover the 140 bank failures in 2009. That price tag will eclipse the total dollar amount of the losses the FDIC incurred during the six years spanning 1987 through 1992, when 1,049 banks collapsed during the savings and loan (S&L) crisis, costing the FDIC $29.6 billion.

These latest findings are contained in a report produced by the Meridian Group of Seattle. The Meridian report compares bank failure statistics from the nation’s latest financial crisis to bank failure statistics from the S&L crisis of 20 years ago. The conclusion: the most recent meltdown, triggered by problems in the housing sector, is the worst crisis the FDIC has ever faced, with 2009 the costliest year ever for bank failures.

In the previous savings and loan crisis, the average failed banking institution had total assets of $205 million, according to Meridian’s analysis. In 2009, the average collapsed institution had total assets of $1.2 billion.

Perhaps more importantly, the average banking institution that failed during the savings and loan crisis cost the FDIC $28 million.

In 2009, that average jumps to $261 million per failure.

“Each time a bank failed in 2009, we heard that – bad as it seemed – 2009 wasn’t as bad as 1989, when 534 banks failed,” said Meridian CEO Darren Berg. “But that’s simply not true. In fact, 2009 was the worst year ever for bank failures.”

Berg explained that in 2009, the banks that failed were significantly larger, roughly six times larger on average, than the banks that failed during the S&L years. Worse yet, the FDIC’s losses per closure have skyrocketed to nearly 10 times that of the S&L crisis, he added.

The Meridian report stops short of making a prediction for 2010. Rather, it offers an “observation” for the future.

“Given the secrecy surrounding the FDIC’s Watch List, it’s difficult to accurately predict the cost of looming bank failures,” Berg said. “But in light of the fact that the FDIC continues to add staff at a frantic pace, we believe it’s reasonable to assume the worst is yet to come.”

The Meridian Group of Companies is a collection of 13 companies that span the financial services, mortgage lending, software, and transportation sectors. Companies owned by Meridian include two newly introduced real estate opportunity funds focused on purchasing residential land assets at significant discounts from failed financial institutions.