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Bernanke: U.S. banks solid, some small ones may fail


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday that some small U.S. banks might go under during the current stress prompted by housing market problems, but the U.S. bank system overall remained solid.

    "I expect there will be some failures," Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee, referring to smaller regional banks who became heavily invested in real estate.

    "Among the largest banks, the capital ratios remain good and I don't anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large, internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system," he said in response to a question during semi-annual congressional testimony.

    (Reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by James Dalgleish)