Banks across the U.S., including the Eleventh Federal Reserve District, appear to be recovering from the financial crisis that began in mid-2007. The news is welcome because a healthy banking sector spurs economic growth by providing financing for businesses to expand investment spending and for...

Neiman Marcus, Harrah’s, Petco, J. Crew—these well-known names are among the holdings of companies owned or co-owned by private equity (PE) firms in the Federal Reserve’s Eleventh District. The region is home to more than 175 PE firms, including the world’s third-largest, Fort...

While the larger banking industry grabbed most of the attention, U.S. savings and loans (S&Ls) also felt the strain of the recent financial crisis. Major institutions such as Countrywide Financial and Washington Mutual failed.

Equity capital represents a bank’s net worth—the difference between its assets and liabilities. Put another way, it’s the value of assets financed by the bank’s owners, rather than depositors or other sources of funds. Capital serves as a buffer to absorb losses and prevent failures and...

In 2009, the banking industry continued to feel the fallout from the financial crisis that began in mid-2007. Some good news was revealed in recently available first-quarter data, however, which showed profitability rebounding and increases in asset-quality problems slowing down. Whether...

Banking industry indicators deteriorated in 2008--both in the Dallas Fed's district and nationwide.