Federal Reserve
US government takes control of AIG
The US Federal Reserve Board has agreed to lend struggling insurance company American International Group (AIG) up to $85 billion, in return for a 79.9% equity stake in the firm.
Fed asks Treasury for supplementary funding
The US Treasury department is creating a temporary supplementary funding programme at the request of the Federal Reserve. The initiative has been devised to manage the balance-sheet impact of the Fed’s lending and liquidity operations, and ensure it can…
Bank of America buys Merrill Lynch for $50 billion
Bank of America announced today it will acquire Merrill Lynch in a $50 billion all-stock deal, rounding off an explosive weekend on Wall Street.
Foreign banks face $475 billion subprime losses
Although banks such as UBS have reported massive subprime-related writedowns in the early stages of the mortgage crisis, European banks are not over-represented in the subprime market, according to research published by the US Federal Reserve.
US Fed issues standardised approaches NPR
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Small US banks free to pursue Basel II standardised approaches
The Federal Reserve has announced it will permit smaller US financial institutions to implement the standardised approach for Basel II compliance, acknowledging misgivings raised by banks over previous proposals.
Fed expert to speak at OpRisk Asia
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Fed proposes unfair practices rules for cards and overdrafts
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Really too big to fail?
Are bulge-bracket investment banks really too big to be allowed to fail? Despite the upheavals such a failure would cause, the consequences may have been overblown, argues David Rowe
Vision on
Regulation
Fed heightens its scrutiny of investment banks
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Fed will support securities market directly
The US Federal Reserve Bank will start backing primary securities dealers as well as banks through its discount in another attempt to stave off a general financial collapse, it announced yesterday.
Vanilla's the flavour
Interest rates
Profiting from divergence
Interest Rates
Central banks offer $20bn auctions to revive liquidity
The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the central banks of the UK, Canada and Switzerland have agreed upon a series of auctions to provide billions for credit-starved financial institutions.
Kroszner lauds Basel II bank reforms
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US Federal Reserve Board gives green light for Basel II
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Kroszner: “Investors less informed than they originally thought”
Investors in structured credit assets, such as collateralised debt obligations, recently “realised they were much less informed than they originally thought”, according to US Federal Reserve governor Randall Kroszner.
US regulators encourage loss-mitigation strategies
Six US regulatory agencies have called for more loss-mitigation strategies to prevent homeowner defaults on mortgages. In a joint statement released yesterday they said that all regulated financial institutions that service mortgage loans should take…
Bernanke: Increasing risk premiums “probably healthy”
An increase in the premiums investors require to take risk is probably a healthy development, said US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.