Banks brace for new derivatives rules

Banks brace for new derivatives rules

The Dodd-Frank law strives to increase transparency in derivatives trading by moving over-the-counter trading to exchanges, where prices and counterparty risk are easier to track. This provision has pluses and minuses for financial institutions. On one hand, funding the over-the-counter trading was expensive, so less of this sort of trading actually helps to free up

Bank profitability on the mend

Bank profitability on the mend

As described in an earlier post, most U.S. banks now have — or are close to having — the capital they need to meet the federal government’s new capital requirements, we believe. One exception involves institutions that continue to have extensive investment banking operations and still are likely to need to increase capital. Generally speaking,

U.S. banks show new capital strength

U.S. banks show new capital strength

In 2010, Congress passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, popularly known as Dodd- Frank, with the purpose of regulating behavior of banks and financial institutions, capital markets, derivatives trading, and treatment of retail customers. Since then, regulatory authorities have been gradually implementing some provisions while writing rules for others with a process

Broadening regional focus to global insights

Broadening regional focus to global insights

Sometimes an industry evolves beyond the research model that covers it. Consider the case of financial exchanges. Sell-side equity research in this area is divided regionally between Asia, Europe, and the United States, with little or no overlap. These regional boundaries, while they make sense for research specialization in other sectors, tend to ignore the