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Banking

Vol. 21, No. 2,
Second Quarter 2008

Articles

Fed Program Benefits Minority, Young Banks

Fed Chair Discusses Recent Bank Actions

Atlanta Fed Chief Advises Vigilance

Atlanta Fed Conference Examines Reforms

Proposals Issued for Credit Card Rules

Fed Chair Urges Workouts to Problem Mortgages

Report on Risk Exposure Released

Maps Illustrate National Mortgage Situation

Banks Should Work With Less Debt, Fed Vice Chair Says

Atlanta Fed Offers Teaching Materials

Latin American Policymakers Should Remain Vigilant, Fed Gov. Says

Treasury Secretary Calls for Regulatory Changes

Fed Takes Steps to Address Liquidity Problems

Fed Check Study Shows Ongoing Rise of Conversions

Departments

Financial Update Focus

Editor's Note: This publication is posted on a rolling schedule and content will be added throughout the quarter.

Updated June 30, 2008

Fed Program Benefits Minority, Young Banks

6/30/2008 - The Federal Reserve System has launched Partnership for Progress, an outreach program designed to help minority-owned and de novo financial institutions confront their unique challenges, cultivate safe and sound practices, and compete more effectively.

Podcast on Partnership for Progress (MP3 3:40)

Fed Chair Explains Fed's Recent Liquidity Measures
6/25/2008 - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently discussed central bank actions to support market liquidity and the reasoning behind the Fed's actions to soothe recent strains in short-term funding markets.

Atlanta Fed Chief: Too Soon to Breathe Easy
6/25/2008 - Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said in a June speech that recently the economy has had the feel of "coming up for air," though he cautioned that it is too early to "breathe easy."

Atlanta Fed Conference Examines Reforms
6/25/2008 - Academics, policymakers, and market practitioners gathered in mid-May to discuss the status and future of financial market reforms, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, at the Atlanta Fed’s annual Financial Markets Conference at Sea Island, Ga.

Fed Proposes New Protections for Credit Card Users
5/20/2008 - The Fed has proposed rules to prohibit unfair practices concerning credit card and overdraft services. Among other safeguards, the rules would protect consumers from unexpected interest rate increases on pre-existing card balances.

Fed Chair Urges Action to Stem Foreclosures
5/16/2008 - Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, encouraged the government and lenders to work together to slow the pace of home foreclosures in a speech this month.

Senior Supervisors Group Releases Report on Disclosure of Risky Exposures
5/15/2008 - Banking regulators from the United States and four European countries have issued a report on the ways large financial services firms disclose exposures to financial instruments that the marketplace considers high risk.

New York Fed's Maps Illustrate Mortgage Data
5/15/2008 - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has introduced online, interactive maps of the United States that allow users a clearer view of where problems with nonprime mortgages are.

Fed Vice Chair Kohn Encourages Banks to Work With Less Debt
4/30/2008 - Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn recommended that commercial and investment banks operate with less debt, saying that the financial system's increased stability will outweigh the costs.

Atlanta Fed Helps Teachers by Providing Curriculum
4/25/2008 - To help middle and high school educators teach economics and personal finance to their students, the Atlanta Fed offers free curriculum resources in a variety of media.

Fed Gov. Kroszner: Latin Policymakers Must Be Vigilant
4/25/2008 - Latin America links to the global economy in important ways, so Latin American policymakers should be mindful of economic turbulence elsewhere and continue their improvements, Fed Gov. Randall S. Kroszner said in a recent speech.

Proposals Would Broaden Fed’s Supervision of Financial Markets
4/25/2008 - In late March, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed changes to the regulation of the nation's financial markets. These changes would give the Federal Reserve broad oversight authority over the financial services industry.

Examining the Federal Reserve’s New Liquidity Measures
4/15/2008 - The Fed has taken a number of steps to address the tightness in credit markets, including traditional monetary policy tools as well as measures at the level of specific markets to provide additional liquidity.

Did You Know? A Primer on Credit Default Swaps
4/14/2008 - A credit default swap, an over-the-counter financial contract that allows for the transfer of credit risk from one party to another, is one way financial institutions mitigate and diversify credit risk.

Checks Written to Businesses Predominate, Fed Study Shows
4/9/2008 - A new Fed study shows that checks written from consumers to business make up nearly half of all checks written and that conversions of paper checks to electronic payments increased in 2006.