The Basel III Accord of December 2010, aiming to reduce the chances of systemic financial crises, included provisions regulating the liquid assets held by financial institutions. The Accord included provisions requiring financial institutions to maintain liquidity buffers: stocks of liquid...

One of the key features of the U.S. economy’s slow recovery from the 2007-09 recession has been abnormally low bank lending to households and corporate businesses. While demand for loans may be sluggish, much of the slowdown may stem from banks’ reluctance to lend. Before resuming normal...

Although the banking system appears to be safer and sounder today than it was two decades ago, new risk challenges have arisen that could not have been anticipated in the 1980s. This article outlines the fundamental structural changes in the U.S. commercial banking industry since then. ; The...