Federal interstate banking and branching reform is about to become a reality, with the first phase of new legislation going into effect later this year. Past experience at the state level suggests that reform will accelerate the pace of industry consolidation but may not lead immediately to...

On October 25, 2002, Thomas C. Baxter, Jr., General Counsel and Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, presented the following remarks at the Puerto Rico Bankers Association conference "Financial Transparency and Corporate Governance of Financial Institutions after the...

Last year's sharp drop in the capital ratios of bank holding companies could cast doubt on the companies' future capital strength, especially if credit quality eroded significantly or if profitability weakened. However, an analysis linking the drop in ratios to bank efforts to increase...

In recent years, the nation's largest bank holding companies have sharply increased their market share of assets. Have these institutions achieved their dominance by expanding their existing subsidiaries or by merging with other bank holding companies? A study of industry data for 1990-99...

The sharp rise in household debt and delinquency rates over the last year has led to speculation that consumers will soon revert to more cautious spending behavior. Yet an analysis of the past relationship between household liabilities and expenditures provides little support for this view.

Although loan quality in the U.S. banking industry deteriorated in recent years, a comparison with the banking crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s suggests that the industry is in a far better position today than it was a decade ago. The percentage of troubled loans is lower, loan quality...

Small banks are a major source of credit for small businesses. As banking consolidation continues, will a resulting decline in the presence of small banks adversely affect the availability of that credit?

Credit card lenders have been writing off loans at sharply higher rates since 1995, suggesting that riskier borrowers are acquiring credit cards. What makes the new borrowers riskier--even more than their personal characteristics and attitudes toward debt--is the fact that they carry higher debt...

As more corporations turn to the securities markets to meet their funding needs, the role of banks as providers of credit to large businesses seems increasingly uncertain. But a look at developments during the financial market turmoil last fall suggests that banks are still a critical source of...