COMMERCIAL BANKS AND NEW CAPITAL REGULATION Essay

Before the advent of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 1933 and the general conception of government safety nets, the United States banking industry was quite different than it is today. Depositors assumed substantial default risk and even the slightest changes in consumer confidence could result in complete turmoil within the banking world. In addition, bank managers had almost complete discretion over operations. However, today the financial system is among the most heavily government- regulated sectors of the U.S. economy. This drastic change in public policy resulted directly from the industry’s numerous pre-regulatory failures and major disruptions that produced severe economic and social

The banking crisis of the late 2000s, often called the Great Recession, is labelled by many economists as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Its effect on the markets around the world can still be felt. Many countries suffered a drop in GDP, small or even negative growth, bankrupting businesses and rise in unemployment. The welfare cost that society had to paid lead to an obvious question: ‘Who’s to blame?’ The fingers are pointed to the United States of America, as it is obvious that this is where the crisis began, but who exactly is responsible? Many people believe that the banks are the only ones that are guilty, but this is just not true. The crisis was really a systematic failure, in which many problems in the

Firstly, the Dodd–Frank Act pushes forward the reformation of America's financial regulatory system. Several new regulatory authorities are set up to enhance the government supervision and administration of the industry. The Financial Stability Oversight Council is established to identify material risks to financial stability, with the support from Office of Financial Research. Moreover, Fed is entitled to exercise additional superintendence beyond banks.

Under TD Canada Trusts current capital structure, TD’s Tier 1 capital in October 2011 was $28.5 billion which had increased from $24.4 billion in the previous year. TD states that “the increase to Tier 1 capital was largely due to strong earnings, and a common share issuance” TD‘s capital ratios are measured by their financial strength and flexibility, and are calculated using guidelines provided by OFSI for capital adequacy rules including Basel II. OFSI will determine risk-adjusted capital, Risk Weighted Assets, and off-balance sheet exposures through the measurement of capital adequacy amongst the Canadian banks. There are two primary ratios used by OFSI to measure capital adequacy: Tier 1 capital ratio and Total capital ratio (refer to Appendix 2).

Investment Banking is now at a crucial junction, where Investment and Commercial Banking are splitting up due to the ring fence which is being built around these two banking areas. As well, the new upcoming regulation, Basel III, will have a huge impact in the investment banks, with higher liquidity and capital requirements, in order to increase solvency and stability in financial industries.

An article appearing in the Finance and Economics section of The Economist print edition with the headline ‘‘Turn of the wheel’’ discusses the Treasury proposing measures of cutting red tape. The article notes after President Trump assumed office, he vowed to restructure the elephantine law which had recast financial regulation following the 2007-08 crisis. Thus, he asked Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary to measure all the rules of America against 7 broad principles, bail-outs prevention by taxpayers as well as instituting more efficient regulations inclusive. Mnuchin provided a report on banks where he proposed installments to cover capital markets, asset, and insurance management together with financial

The Australian financial system evolved in five stages. The first stage was the introduction of financial institutions during the early colonial period in the 19th Century, where the influence of British institutions was a key driving force. The end of that period was marked by the 1890s depression which saw a major rationalisation of Australia’s financial institutions. The start of the modern era of financial regulation can be traced back to the introduction of banking legislation in 1945 and the establishment of Australia’s first central bank.

During the last decade the Australian economy has experienced continuous growth and has featured contained inflation, low unemployment and a strong and stable financial system. By 2012, Australia has experienced more than 20 years of continuous economic growth, averaging 3.5% a year. Australia was comparatively unaffected by the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008 as the banking system remained strong and inflation was controlled to a manageable point, this event has benefited Australia as a whole allowing the country to excel further than other economies that faced the worst of the Global financial Crisis, a core reason to this resistance is the strong and well established regulatory body systems that Australia had put in place. These

The crises showed just how interconnected the banking system is throughout the world. The Lehman Brothers bank closure in 2008 created a major financial crisis around the world due to its influence (The Economist, 2013). It took the government’s massive bail outs to prevent total collapse of the financial system and to some extent economic collapse of the country. This government action set a precedent and to some sent a message that the reckless action by the banks in the name of profit is fine because they now have a safety net. It is a good example of how the collapse of a big financial institution that has national and global influence can affect several interrelated firms to the detriment of the country’s economic interests. This paper therefore, examines the notion “too big to fail” in relation to banking.

Increasing global connectivity and integration in today’s world ensures that almost any serious problem has worldwide ramifications. The global financial system can serve as a key example of this phenomenon. Very recently, Britain’s fifth-largest mortgage lender Northern Rock was rescued by emergency funding from the Bank of England. This made the Newcastle-based firm the highest profile UK victim of the global credit crunch that had been triggered by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US. The bank run on Northern Rock that followed was unprecedented in recent UK monetary history. The Overend Guerney crash of 1866 was the last recorded bank run

In the early 1980s, there was an economic downturn in Australia, to find out the cause of this event, the Australian government has established a financial system survey in the year 1996. This survey was conducted by a businessman named Stan Wallis. He published his investigation report in 1997, titled the final report of the deregulation of financial services; it commonly referred to as the ‘Wallis Report’. Wallis found that the most suitable structure for Australia will then include two regulators: one who is responsible for prudential regulation of any entity that needs to be cautiously supervised; another one is the market and management of any financial products that are provided to the Australian consumers.

The financial sector is the largest contributor to Australia’s national output, around 11 per cent of Australian output or A$135 billion of real gross value added in 2010.1 Australia ranked fifth amongst the world’s leading financial systems and capital markets in the 2010 World Economic Forum Financial Development report. Total assets of Australia’s banks, defined as Authorised Deposittaking Institutions (ADIs)2, were A$2.7 trillion. Australia has four large domestic banks (the “four pillars”) that provide full service retail and commercial lending to the Australian economy; Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA),

One of the key concerns growing out of the debate on whether to separate or merge retail banking and wholesale/investment banking activities has been the stability of a nation’s banking system. The experience of the US banking system has suggested that merge of commercial and investment banks is a better approach to achieving stability. After the global financial crisis, the American economy went into recession. The policy priority of American government was then to intervene into its banking system so as to mitigate the impact of the crisis. One advantage of the merger of banks is that it can improve the overall condition of the economy (Khan, 2012). The merger of banks unites small and weak unit banks which will then be able to provide

The 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and its aftermath had critically damaged the world economy with a drag in global economic growth. Indubitably, the imprudence in which banks managed their risks and capital holdings were among reasons that caused the crisis. It raised the need for industry reform, leading to G20’s Basel III proposal in 2010 to strengthen the global capital framework by imposing stricter rules regarding capital and liquidity requirements, as well as a focus on transparency, consistency and quality.

The article highlights the emergence of the Basel Accord in 1998 and how it has evolved over the course of the last 23 years. Contrary to the popular belief capital regulations have been considered the biggest underlying factor of the subprime crisis owing to securitization, the shadow banking system and the flexibility given to banks in risk assessment. The recent Basel III norms though aim to mitigate the already caused damage, the results are still left to be witnessed.