Throughout the past year, on-site visits to financial service firms were conducted to review and evaluate their risk management systems. In the insurance sector, this evaluation covered a number of prominent life/health and property/casualty insurers, both in the U.S. and abroad. The information...

This paper examines the role of reinsurance relationships in the trading of underwriting risk when this trade takes place in an environment that is characterized by asymmetric information and in which information is revealed only over time. It begins by explaining how information problems affect...

The U.S. economy enjoyed a remarkable run in the 1990s. As it moved into the new century, however, the economy underwent various fits and starts before entering its current expansion phase. In this quarter’s message, President Anthony Santomero shares his views on the U.S. economy and outlines...

After 30 years of university teaching and almost five years as a Reserve Bank president, Anthony M. Santomero knows the importance of education to a well-functioning economy. In recent years, he has seen several broad, long-term trends emerge-trends that will undoubtedly shape our environment...

President Anthony Santomero highlights the differences between U.S. and European payments infrastructure; discusses how the roots and evolution of the U.S. payments system differs from Europe’s; and outlines the likely path of the U.S. payment system and the Fed’s role in it. In the end, he...

In "The Causes and Effects of Financial Modernization," President Santomero outlines financial legislation since the 1930s and discusses the impact that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act has had and will continue to have on the financial services industry.

President Santomero reviews both the areas of agreement and those open to debate and offers his perspective on them. He concludes with some thoughts about the implications for the conduct of monetary policy.