FBA wants to double FDIC limit.(Florida Bankers Association on Federal Deposit Insurance Corp's insurance coverage for banks and savings and loan associations)(Statistical Data Included)

The debate over possible changes in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp's system is heating up, with some prominent South Florida banking figures on opposite sides of the major issues.

Since last spring, bank trade groups have been recommending that Congress raise the FDIC's maximum insurance coverage on bank and savings & loan accounts from $100,000 to $200,000 per account. That limit has been $100,000 since 1980, when Congress raised it from $40,000.

Leaders of the American Bankers Association, the Florida Bankers Association and other state trade groups say a higher insurance limit could help many banks attract more deposits and give them more money to lend.

Miriam Lopez, president/CEO of TransAtlantic Bank in Miami and president of the Florida Bankers Association, says an increase to $200,000 is warranted because compounded inflation has been 97 percent over the past 20 years.

Critics, however, say a $200,000 FDIC limit could help spur the kind of high-rate, high-risk lending that contributed to the S&L crisis of the late 1980s.

Few observers expect …