The big takeover: A play-by-play on bank seizures

Lately, it seems that as each week comes to a close, we hear about yet another bank failure. Thirty two banks have failed so far this year, already surpassing the total tally for 2008's bank failures. And there doesn't seem to be a slowdown in sight. Earlier this year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said that the number of U.S. banks on its "Problem List" jumped by nearly 50 percent to 252 in the fourth quarter of 2008.

So how is it determined that a bank can no longer function?

The FDIC says that a chartering authority -- which can include individual state banking departments, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or the Office of Thrift Supervision -- closes the struggling bank and will appoint the FDIC as the receiver.