U.S. regulators revised down the estimated cost of cleaning up the hundreds of bank failures Tuesday, saying the industry is seeing better earnings and a greater ability to raise capital. The staff of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said it now believes bank failures will cost the industry-backed insurance fund $60 billion between 2010 and 2014. Previously, the FDIC had estimated a cost of $60 billion over 2010 to 2013.

The FDIC staff warned, however, that spreading economic effects of the Gulf Coast oil spill and the European debt crisis could prompt the FDIC to raise its loss estimates.