Richard Bove made some headlines with his prediction that up to 200 more banks will fail in the current financial crisis. That may actually strike some as fairly conservative. Meredith Whitney expects about 300 to fail. If we end up with a double dip sort of recession, I would think that even more banks would fail.

One issue here is who will be left to buy these banks as part of some sort of FDIC-engineered bailout. We're starting to see glimpses of that. Guaranty's banking unit has sold its to Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA. To effect that deal, the FDIC agreed to share in losses with the Spanish bank, Reuters notes.

We're also likely to see less stringent rules on private equity firms, in hopes of keeping them in the market. Finally, we may start seeing more FDIC-backed attempts by stronger regional banks. At some point, the FDIC may have to hike fees yet again. We're far from the end of the banking crisis, though the systemic aspects seem to be under control. 

For more:
- here's the Reuters article

Related Articles:
How many more banks will fail?
How many banks will fail?
Pain ahead for regional banks?
Meredith Whitney correct about Goldman Sachs
Whitney helps Wall Street rally