WASHINGTON -- In an effort to deal with greater-than-expected losses from bank failures, U.S. regulators are sharply raising the fees they collect from banks for deposit insurance.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s board on Friday approved a proposal to charge banks a one-time fee of 20 cents on every $100 of domestic deposits, as well as give the agency the power to collect other emergency fees in the future. Those charges would be combined with a general increase in the amount banks pay each quarter for the government to back deposits in U.S. bank accounts.

The FDIC, led by Chairman Sheila Bair, said the new fees could raise $27 billion for the deposit insurance fund in 2009, nine times what the agency collected last year.

Opposition to the proposal came from John Reich, the departed director of the Office of Thrift Supervision. Mr. Reich, who stepped down from his post on Friday, said he didn't think it appropriate to levy a new tax on banks that are already in a weakened condition. He said he would support higher fees in more profitable times.

Describing the need for the changes, the FDIC staff said "a deepening recession and continued severe problems in the housing and construction sectors, financial markets and commercial real estate, contribute to staff's expectations [of] significantly higher losses for the insurance fund."