Chapter 2- Legal And Regulatory Environment Flashcards
Office of foreign assets control (OFAC)
Office of the us treasury that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions against targeted foreign countries, terrorist sponsoring organizations and drug traffickers
Secret service
Created in 1865 to suppress counterfeit currency. Deals with check fraud, credit card fraud and identity theft
Securities and exchange commission (SEC)
Federal agency designed to maintain a fair and orderly market for investors by regulating and supervising securities sales
Responsibilities:
- registering public offerings
- setting financial disclosure standards for corporations
- requiring public companies to file financial reports (annual and quarterly)
- regulating mutual funds and investment advisors
- monitoring insider trading
Focused on protecting investors
Federal reserve act of 193
Established the Fed
Glass-Steagall Act (banking act of 1933)
Passed to deal with banking issues coming out of the Great Depression
- prohibited commercial banks from underwriting securities except for government issues
- prohibited securities firms from engaging in bank like activities such as deposit gathering
- required the Fed to establish IR ceilings and prohibit the payment of interest on demand deposits
- created the FDIC
Tying
The act of requiring an organization or individual to purchase a product or service in order to be allowed to obtain a separate product or service
Gramm-leach-Bliley Act 1999
Eliminates most of glass-steagall
Specifically eliminating the barriers between commercial and investment banks and insurance
- permits the creation of financial holding companies (FHC)
- allows easier entry of foreign banks into the us
- allows for key provisions relating to consumer protections
establishes the Fed as the primary regulator of FHCs
Dodd-Frank 2010
Created in response to the 2007-2009 financial crisis
Overall goal to bring more transparency and accountability to the derivatives markets
- closes regulatory gaps
- require central clearing and exchange trading
- require market transparency
- adds financial safeguards
- sets higher standards of conduct
Volcker Rule
Part of Dodd frank
Limits an FI’s ability to engage in proprietary trading for its own portfolio
Prohibits FI’s from owning or sponsoring hedge funds or private equity funds
Electronic fund transfer act (EFTA) 1978
Defines the rights and responsibilities of customers using all electronic funds transfer services except wires
Limits customer liability for unauthorized banking transactions, provides the customer notices the bank or other institution who issued the card
Depository institutions deregulation and monetary control act (DIDMCA) 1989
- requires all deposit-taking institutions to maintain reserves at the fed
- makes the Fed services such as discount window and check clearing available to all deposit-taking institutions
- mandates the fed to reduce and/or price payment system float and price previously free fed services according to standards of tax paying vendor
Electronic structures in global and national commerce act (E-sign Act) 2000
Grant digital signatures the same legal status as handwritten ink signatures
Check clearing for the 21st century act (Check 21) 2003
Basis for electronic clearing of checks by allowing the substitution of a copy or image of a check for the original document in the clearing process
Bank secrecy act (BSA) and money laundering control act (MLCA) 1986
Purpose is to control the flow of illegal money when money is laundered to conceal illegal activity
BSA requires all FIs to report any suspicious financial transactions, a paper trail is created to assist in detection
Makes money laundering a federal crime and FIs are liable if they fail to comply the record keeping and anti money liam front provisions
Requires KYC stuff
Report and monitor:
- activity inconsistent with customer’s business
- attempts by customers to avoid reporting or record-keeping requirements
- unusual or multiple funds transfer activities
- customers who provide insufficient or suspicious information
Financial Institutions (FI)
- provide a mechanism for savers of capital to transfer that capital to others that need capital
- commercial bank is the most common type (provides both deposits and loans )
Net Interest Margin
- the difference between the interest rate at which the bank lends to borrowers and the interest rate that the bank pays to depositors for funds on deposit
- primary way banks make money
Primary Job of Regulators
To monitor the credit and liquidity risks relating to potential bank failures and to implement safeguards that can reduce the overall risk of systemic failure
5 Main areas of financial regulation
1) monitoring and managing the overall safety ans soundness of the banking system
2) setting and implementing monetary policy
3) determining guidelines for the chartering of banks and other depository institutions
4) allocating credit toward certain economic segments and protecting consumers
5) protecting investors purchasing securities through FIs
Minimum capital levels
-regulatory approach applied to create safety in the system
-requires bank owners to contribute equity aka capital to the business
-Key ratio:
Bank’s capital/ At risk assets
at risk assets include loans and other investments
higher the ratio the less the risk
Impairment of Capital Rules
- regulatory approach applied to create safety in the system
- regulators will monitor the quality of the loan and investment portfolio, restricting how much can be loaned or invested in a particular company or industry sector
Regulatory approaches to monitoring and managing the overall safety and soundness of the banking system
1) Minimum Capital Levels
2) Impairment of Capital Requirements
3) Deposit Insurance
4) regulatory monitoring and surveillance ( onsite examiners)
Deposit Insurance (Deposit Guarantee)
- regulatory approach applied to create safety in the system
- intended to protect the deposits of smaller deposit customers
- increases overall confidence in the banking system
- Moral Hazard
- Depositors have little incentive to investigate banks since the government will cover defaults
- banks have limited incentive to be cautious since if they fail, the government will bail out depositors (makes the banks take more risks)
Monetary Policy
Action taken by the central bank to control money supply and interest rates
Chartering Process
The establishment or opening of banks and other deposit institutions along with the guidelines regarding the types of financial services they are allowed to offer
tend to specify the amount of capital needed to open banks
Typical central Bank Responsabilities
1) Monetary Policy
2) Currency Issuance
3) Supervision and Regulation
4) Government Services
5) Depository Institution Services
Discount Rate
the rate for lending to FIs set by the FED
Financial Stability Board (FSB)
- based in Basel, Switzerland
- Established to provide international coordination of national financial authorities and international standard-setting bodies
FSB Goals
1) maintain financial stability
2) promote the openness and transparency of the financial sector
3) implement international financial standards
4) conduct periodic peer reviews
Bank for International Settlements (BAS)
- established in 1930 after WWI, oldest international financial institution
- aims to foster cooperation among central banks and increasingly other agencies in pursuit of monetary and financial stability
History
- focused on the implementation and defense of Bretton Woods Agreement
- helped manage cross-border capital flow following oil crisis
- Basel Accords (all 3)
- acts as a traditional bank, funding the bank community (gold and FX transactions)
Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS)
- committee that is part of BIS
- is the governing body of the Basel Committee and is comprised of central bank governors and non central bank heads of supervision from member countries
Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS)
- committee that is part of BIS
- is a central bank forum for the monitoring and examination of broad issues relating to financial markets and systems
Committee on payment and settlement systems (CPSS)
- committee that is part of BIS
- is a BIS hosted standard setting body for payment and securities settlement systems
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS)
- committee that is part of BIS
- Established in 1974
- is a standard setting body that provides a forum for regular cooperation on banking supervisory matters. goal is to reduce systemic risk, enhance understanding of key supervisory issues, improve quality of banking supervision worldwide
- this is the group that publish the Basel Accords which set minimum capital ratios for large banks based on credit risk of various assets
Herstatt Risk
foreign exchange settlement risk, especially between bank counterparties
-named after the Herstatt bank failure in 1974
Basel Capital Accords
Issues by the BCBS
-first set Basel I, issued in 1988 and set minimum capital ratios for large banks based on credit risk of various assets
- Basel II: set in 2004, expanded risk rantings of Basel I and added an assessment of operation risk to the existing credit risk evaluation in establishing core capital requirements for major banks. Was based on three pillars:
1) Minimum capital requirements to address credit and operational risk
2) supervisory review, which provided a framework for dealing with and evaluating risk
3) market discipline, which focused on disclosure requirements regarding risk metrics and capital adequacy
Basel III: developed in 2011,in response to the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. Extended Basel II to address stress testing and market liquidity risk as well as capital adequacy. Scheduled to be implemented in 2018
Basel III Goals:
1) improve the banking sector’s ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress
2) improve risk management and governance
3) strengthen banks’ transparency and disclosures
European Payments Council (EPC)
the coordination and decision making body of the European banking industry in relation to payments.
The purpose of the EPC is to support and promote the single euro payments area
Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)
establishes minimum standards and common pricing for payments processing within the EU
- seeks to incentivize increased use of electronic payments by standardizing practices
- create single standard for payments
European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA)
an independent EU authority that contributes to safeguarding the stability of the EU’s financial system by ensuring the integrity, transparency, efficiency, and orderly functioning of securities markets, as well as enhancing investor protection.
Partially responsible for the implementation and administration of the EMIR
European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR)
adopted by European Parliament in 2012
-is intended to increase the stability of OTC derivatives market throughout Europe and implements reporting and clearing obligations for OTC derivatives (similar to Dodd Frank)