NEW YORK - April 27, 2009 - The chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,  Sheila C. Bair, said in a speech on Monday that her agency should have broader powers to take over and close a variety of financial institutions to prevent taxpayers from shouldering the losses on firms deemed too big to fail.

Instead of just seizing commercial banks, Ms. Bair said the FDIC should be able to take over troubled insurers, bank holding companies and other insolvent financial institutions and force stockholders and bondholders to bear the cost.

“Viable portions of the company would be put into the good bank, while the ailing portions would remain at the bad bank to be sold or closed over time,” Ms. Bair said at a speech at the Economic Club of New York.

So far, the federal government has committed to spend $12.8 trillion - which includes the bailouts of the insurance giant American International Group and the mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - to resolve the credit crisis. As part of that, more than $90 billion has been spent to shore up Citigroup and Bank of America.