Banks, particularly in New England, have experienced major losses of capital as a result of their exposure to risky real estate loans. These losses, accompanied by strict enforcement of capital regulations, have caused banks to shrink their assets in an attempt to improve their capital/asset...

Remarks by Eric S. Rosengren, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and Joe Peek, Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, to the International Banking, Economics, and Finance Association and American Economic Association, Boston, Massachusetts, January 3,...

Banking crises have continued to emerge in recent years, contributing to severe economic contractions in Japan, Russia, and Southeast Asia. In response, international organizations have advocated enhanced market discipline, encouraging countries to improve disclosure. One reason so little...

Investigators examining problems with credit availability during the most recent recession have been unable to provide definitive evidence that the decline in bank loans was, at least in part, a supply phenomenon. Furthermore, they have not focused on the subset of loans made to borrowers most...

Whether central banks should play an active role in bank supervision and regulation is being debated both in the United States and abroad. While the Bank of England has recently been stripped of its supervisory responsibilities and several proposals in the United States have advocated removing...

Recent studies have found that banks with low capital ratios have significantly decreased their lending to the real estate sector. This correlation between real estate lending and bank capital could be the result of voluntary decisions by banks to recapitalize, or it could be the result of...

Recently, several central banks have lost their bank supervisory responsibilities, in part because it has not been shown that supervisory authority improves the conduct of monetary policy. This paper finds that confidential bank supervisory information could help the Board staff more accurately...

We find that a relatively large number of banks active in the derivatives market have low capital ratios and are considered institutions with a significant risk of failure by bank supervisors. However, we also find no evidence that the volume of derivatives activity at troubled banks affects the...

The transmission of monetary policy, especially in light of recent events, has received increased attention, especially with respect to the efficacy of the bank lending channel. This paper summarizes the issues associated with isolating the bank lending channel and determining the extent to...

The transmission of monetary policy, especially in light of recent events, has received increased attention, especially with respect to the efficacy of the bank lending channel. This paper summarizes the issues associated with isolating the bank lending channel and determining the extent to...