Supervision and Regulation
The Federal Reserve promotes the safety and soundness of financial institutions like banks and monitors their impact on the financial system as a whole.
The First National Bank Building, also known as the Old Monroe County Savings Bank Building (Image LC-DIG-highsm-52790 via Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
Last updated March 8, 2024
Essays in This Theme
Bank Capital Standards - A key goal of bank supervision and regulation has been to ensure that banks maintain sufficient capital
Bank Holding Company Act - In 1956, Congress gave the Fed increased oversight of the banking industry
Continental Illinois: A Bank that Was Too Big to Fail - The phrase “too big to fail” became commonly used for the first time after Continental’s crisis
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - This wide-ranging legislation was signed by President Obama in 2010
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act - The 1991 Act was intended to address problems in the banking and thrift industries
Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 (Gramm-Leach-Bliley) - The 1999 Act promoted financial integration by repealing parts of the Glass-Steagall Act while giving the Fed new supervisory powers
Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act - The 1982 Act aimed to ease pressures on depository institutions as the Fed acted to curb inflation
Latin American Debt Crisis - During the 1980s, many Latin American countries were unable to service their foreign debt
McFadden Act of 1927 - The Act rechartered the Federal Reserve Banks in perpetuity, liberalized branch banking rules, and revised a wide range of laws related to the treatment of banks that were not members of the Federal Reserve System
Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act - The 1994 law removed many of the restrictions on bank branching across state lines
Subprime Mortgage Crisis - The 2007-10 crisis stemmed in part from an expansion of mortgages to high-risk borrowers
