FDIC'S SEIDMAN SAYS HIGHER RATES COULD HARM BANKS Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman William Seidman said he would be concerned about the impact on banks of a further sharp rise in interest rates. However, Seidman, attending the American Bankers Association convention, said he did not expect rates to rise much higher and said the outlook for the U.S. economy and for banking was sound. "The potential for greater interest rate rises gives us concern. We see nothing right now in the outlook that causes us to believe rates are going much higher or that the economy is not sound," Seidman told a news conference.