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Federal Reserve
Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses Resolution-Planning Guidance for U.S. Global Systemically Important Banks
On December 20, 2018, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (together, the “Agencies”) issued final guidance (the “Final Guidance”)[1] with respect to future resolution plan submissions under Title I of the Dodd-Frank Act by the eight …
Skadden Discusses Proposed Updates to Banking Rules for Derivative-Contract Exposure
On October 30, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the agencies) jointly invited comment on a proposed regulation that, if adopted, …
Disclosure Regulation in the Commercial Banking Industry: Lessons from the National Banking Era
In the aftermath of the 2007—2009 financial crisis, policymakers around the globe responded to calls for greater transparency in the financial system by adopting new rules and institutions that required more and better information disclosure by financial institutions. For example, …
Lehman Brothers: How Good Policy Can Make Bad Law
As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the failure of Lehman Brothers, the news is again awash in a debate about whether policymakers could have saved the investment bank. That the issue remains so deeply contested reflects how fundamentally flawed …
Skadden Discusses When It Makes Sense to Prepay Appraisal Claims
In response to the growing practice of “appraisal arbitrage,” in 2016 Delaware’s General Assembly amended the state’s appraisal statute, Section 262 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. The amendment to Section 262(h) granted corporations the option to “prepay” appraisal claimants …
Central Banks, Private Securities Purchases, and Nominal GDP Targeting
Central bank law is an unloved part of public law. Maybe that’s because commercial litigators cannot sue central banks, advise the people that sell bonds to them, or argue cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to create new …
Cleary Discusses Simplification of 2018 Resolution Plans for Foreign Banks
On January 29, 2018, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC (the “Agencies”) released feedback letters to 19 foreign banking organizations (“FBOs”) that last filed plans by December 31, 2015 (the “FBO Feedback”).[1] The …
Skadden Discusses Expectations for Robust U.S. Capital Markets in 2018
The U.S. high-yield and investment-grade debt markets saw significant increases in 2017 over 2016 in dollar volume and number of issuances.[1] The U.S. equity indices reached new highs throughout the year, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 index ending …
Subprime-Mortgage Servicing Regulation and the Financial Crisis
Scholars are attempting to fully understand all the causes of the 2007-09 U.S. financial crisis, hoping their efforts will ensure that something like this will not happen again. Nonetheless, in this research, weaknesses in mortgage servicing regulation have been largely …
Davis Polk Analyzes the Fed’s New Corporate Governance Guidance
The Federal Reserve’s proposed supervisory guidance on corporate governance is a breath of fresh air that should encourage banking boards to focus on their core responsibilities and avoid blurring the distinctions between executive and non-executive duties. It is also a …
Ethical Bankers
The capstone of regulatory reform in the wake of the financial crisis can be characterized as an effort to change the financial industry by getting bankers to behave more ethically. Regulators have emphasized the importance of “culture” set by a …
PwC Discusses the Fed’s New Rating System for Large Financial Institutions
On August 3, the Federal Reserve (Fed) proposed for comment a new supervisory rating system to assess the safety and soundness of Large Financial Institutions (LFIs).1 This is the first change to the Fed’s supervisory rating system since the …
PwC Discusses Fed’s New Board Expectations Guidance
On August 3, the Federal Reserve (Fed) proposed for comment supervisory guidance for boards
of directors of Fed-supervised institutions1 (i.e., Board Effectiveness (BE) guidance). The proposed BE guidance is the result of a multi-year review by the Fed of …
PwC Discusses Bank Resolution Plans’ Public Sections
The recently released public sections of the 2017 resolution plans submitted by the eight US global systemically important banks (G-SIBs)1 provide a unique window into the banks’ resolution planning efforts that have developed over the last five years. Notably, …
Arnold & Porter Discusses the Federal Reserve’s Focus on Fair Lending
Fair lending compliance and community benefit plans are increasingly important factors in the merger and acquisition (M&A) approval process. In 2016 and the first quarter of 2017, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) approved 20 …
Fed Governor Brainard Discusses Why Opportunity and Inclusion Matter to U.S. Economy
I want to thank Neel Kashkari for launching the Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute and for inviting me to join the deliberations of this distinguished group today [May 22]. This new Institute is another great example of how individual Reserve …
The Financial CHOICE Act of 2017: Will Collective Amnesia Triumph?
Notwithstanding decidedly hostile testimony last month from this humble columnist,[1] the U.S. House of Representatives will soon pass legislation (probably on a strict party-line basis) entitled, “The Financial CHOICE Act of 2017” (H.R. 10) (which acronym stands for “Creating …
Fed Vice-Chair Fischer Discusses Committee Decisions and Monetary Policy Rules
It is a pleasure to be at the Hoover Institution again. I was privileged to be a Visiting Scholar here from 1981 to 1982. In addition, many of the researchers and practitioners with whom I have discussed monetary policy over …
PwC Offers 10 Key Points From Trump’s First 100 Days
In the 100 days since his election, President Trump and members of his cabinet have continued public calls for a rollback of Dodd-Frank and related regulations enacted since the financial crisis, while offering few concrete actions or proposals. Initially, Wall …