World financial markets have experienced tremendous growth in recent years. New financial instruments have emerged, transaction volumes in markets has skyrocketed, and capital flows across countries have risen dramatically. While these developments have made financial markets more efficient,...

In a speech delivered this spring to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and to the CS First Boston Corporation Global Banking Conference in New York City, Henry Kaufman predicted that the latest swings in bond and stock prices are likely to be merely a prologue to...

In recent years, revolutionary changes in financial markets, combined with incidents such as Barings and Daiwa, have revived concerns about the adequacy of financial regulation. Historically, financial regulatory policy has been driven by the view that to maintain the health of the financial...

In a speech given at the Bank of International Settlements in Basil, Switzerland, in April, President Hoenig discussed how financial supervisors and monetary policymakers can contribute to a stable financial system that fully supports sustainable economic growth. ; Several financial crises in...

During the past twenty-five years, development economists have made a major shift toward a more mainstream, market-oriented approach to the financial sector. Economists now take for granted that a well-developed financial sector contributes to economic growth. But until recently there was...

In February 1998 the U.S. Supreme Court partially settled a long-running controversy about the concept and extent of common bond limits on credit union membership, interpreting the Federal Credit Union Act as limiting membership to individuals sharing a single common bond. The ensuing debate has...

In more than 3,844 mergers and acquisitions between 1989 and 1999, acquiring institutions purchased more than $3 trillion in assets. A number of reasons have been advanced for such a surge in acquisitions, including the need to consolidate to achieve cost savings and operational efficiencies, to...