
Bank Regulation as Vestigial Corporate Regulation
Although it seems seldom if ever remarked, there is a rich set of parallels between modern U.S. bank regulation, on the one hand, and what used to be garden variety American corporation law, on the other hand. Just as bank charters are matters not of right but of conditional privilege even today, so were all corporate charters not long ago. Just as chartered banks are authorized to engage only in specifically enumerated, carefully limited activities even today, so were all corporations restricted not long ago. And just as banks are subject to strict capital regulation even today, so were all … Read more