Rebuilding the U.S. Banking System: Back to Basics in Financial Markets and Institutions

Abstract

This paper seeks to review events leading up to the financial crisis of 2008, including the massive government intervention into the U.S. financial markets, and then asks some questions and makes some recommendations about changes in specific areas of business practice and public policy as they affect the U.S. financial services industry. Given that many of these issues are unresolved and still moving rapidly, this paper is preliminary and looks primarily at events up to May of 2009.

Keywords: Financial services, Financial regulation, Risk management, Derivatives, Banking