Federal Reserve News

Saft Commentary: The Fed Discovers Chicanery

Acknowledging that sometimes banks chisel clients and bank employees chisel banks may sound obvious to you, but for the Federal Reserve this is a pretty big step forward. Jeremy Stein, a member of the Board of Governors of the Fed, …

U.S. Regulators Urge Flexibility in Basel III Rules for Banks, Insurers

U.S. lawmakers and state financial regulators on Thursday called on federal officials to revamp proposed rules that would force financial firms to hold much more capital, asking them to consider the impact on small banks and insurance companies. U.S. bank …

Swiss Re Chief Economist Sees Rising Rates by Year End

On the heels of the decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve to maintain the target fed funds rate at zero to 25 basis points Swiss Re’s Chief Economist, Kurt Karl, commented: “The US economy has been weak recently, but is …

MetLife Receives Fed Extension on Capital Plans

MetLife Inc. received a three-month extension from the U.S. Federal Reserve on its plans to return capital to shareholders, the company said on Tuesday, potentially removing a short-term overhang on its stock. Its shares were up 5.4 percent on Tuesday …

Geneva Association Reminds Federal Reserve Insurers Aren’t Banks

The Swiss-based insurance think tank Geneva Association has followed up on its recent report as to whether or not some insurers should be considered as G-SIFI’s (globally systemic important financial institutions). The Association has sent a letter to the Federal …

New York Fed Taps 5 Banks to Bid for AIG Bonds: WSJ

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has invited five banks to bid for mortgage bonds of insurer American International Group, the Wall Street Journal reported. The five banks selected are the U.S. securities units of Barclays PLC, Credit Suisse …

Swiss Re’s Chief Economist Sees Fed Actions Calming Debt Crisis

Swiss Re’s Chief Economist, Kurt Karl, has predicted that the decision by the Federal Reserve to maintain the target fed funds rate at zero to 25 basis points would help calm some of the turmoil in the global financial markets. …

Federal Reserve Paid Government $77 Billion in 2011

The Federal Reserve paid the federal government $76.9 billion in 2011, the second highest amount in history. The central bank earned the money from investments made to bolster the U.S. economy. The Fed reported that the 2011 payment is down …

Fed Proposes Rules to Restrain Wall Street Risk-Taking

The Federal Reserve proposed new rules on Tuesday to restrain risk-taking by the largest U.S. banks as it tries to make the financial system more resilient against future crises. The proposal, required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law, includes …

Financial Services Oversight Rules Possible This Week

The Federal Reserve is expected to release this week a highly anticipated proposal for how it will oversee the largest U.S. banks, a person familiar with the plan said on Monday. The proposal, which includes a group of rules such …