This article documents not only the actual use of banks, but also the widespread use of alternative financing mechanisms, using data from a survey of households and businesses in a Hispanic neighborhood of Chicago.

“Banks” are regulated by the government. However, because the generic term bank applies to a number of different types of financial institutions that provide different services, different types of regulation are required. This issue has attracted much attention in recent years as...

This article summarizes a conference, titled “Issues Related to Central Counterparty Clearing,” cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the European Central Bank on April 3–4, 2006. The conference brought together industry executives, policymakers, and research economists to...