Congressional Research Service Reports - 569 Matching Results
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- Payments for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Cost-Sharing Reductions
- This report discusses President Trump's announcement that the federal government would stop issuing cost-sharing reductions(CSRs) to insurers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and potential implications for the insurance market and consumers.
- For First Time, FinCEN Imposes Penalty on Foreign-Based Virtual Currency Exchange for Violations of Anti-Money Laundering Laws
- This report discusses the first case of enforcement by the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) against a foreign-based virtual currency exchange. The action was taken agains BTC-e for violations of anti-money laundering regulations in the U.S. and potential money laundering activities.
- Systemically Important or "Too Big to Fail" Financial Institution.
- This report discusses the "To Big To Fail" (TBTF) system of the government intervening and bailing out certain companies whose collapse is deemed too disruptive to the American financial market to let occur. This report discusses the economic issues raised by TBTF, broad policy options, and policy changes made by the relevant Dodd-Frank provisions.
- When an Agency's Budget Request Does Not Match the President's Request: The Fiscal Year 2018 CFTC Request and "Budget Bypass"
- This report discuses two competing 2018 fiscal year budget requests for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from President Trump and from the CFTC themselves. The Presidential request is $250 million, which is the same amount the CFTC had the past year, while CFTC is requesting an additional $31.5 million in funding for a total request of $ 281.5 million. The process of submitting budgets to the President and Congress is discussed as well as ways to reconcile the two conflicting budget requests.
- Medicare Primer
- This report provides a general overview of the Medicare program including descriptions of the program's history, eligibility criteria, covered services, provider payment systems, and program administration and financing. A list of commonly used acronyms, as well as information on beneficiary cost sharing, may be found in the appendixes.
- The U.S. Trade Deficit: An Overview
- This report provides an overview of the U.S. trade deficit, which is the numerical difference between a country's exports and imports of goods and services. Topics include the source of the trade deficit, trade agreements, unemployment, and issues for Congress.
- Leverage Ratios in Bank Capital Requirements
- This report provides a summary of leverage ratios used in bank capital requirements. It also explains the concept of leverage and the rationale behind a leverage ratio.
- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
- This report discusses a new development bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), launched by China that is posing a challenge to U.S. policymakers.
- Federal Securities Law: Insider Trading
- Insider trading in securities may occur when a person in possession of material nonpublic information about a company trades in the company's securities and makes a profit or avoids a loss. This report discusses various regulations regarding insider trading violations.
- “Amazon Laws” and Taxation of Internet Sales: Constitutional Analysis
- The report is a Constitutional Analysis of “Amazon Laws” and Taxation of Internet Sales: Constitutional Analysis.
- Independence of Federal Financial Regulators: Structure, Funding, and Other Issues
- This report discusses institutional features that make federal financial regulators (and other independent agencies) relatively independent from the President and Congress.
- Limiting Central Government Budget Deficits: International Experiences
- This report focuses on how major developed and emerging-market country governments, particularly the G-20 and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, limit their fiscal deficits.
- Recently Expired Housing Related Tax Provisions (“Tax Extenders”): In Brief
- No Description Available.
- Preservation of HUD-Assisted Housing
- No Description Available.
- Preservation of HUD-Assisted Housing
- No Description Available.
- An Overview of the Housing Finance System in the United States
- No Description Available.
- A Securities Transactions Tax: Brief Analytic Overview with Revenue Estimates
- This report briefly discusses recent STT (Securities Transactions Tax) proposals, summarizes the possible effects on financial market volatility and speculation, and provides estimates of the potential revenue effects.
- China's Recent Stock Market Volatility: What Are the Implications?
- China's two main stock markets, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), experienced rapid price increases from about mid-2014 to mid-2015. However, from June 12 to July 7, 2015, the Shanghai and Shenzhen Composite Indices fell by 32% and 40%, respectively. This report briefly examines this volatility and the Chinese government's response.
- Designation of Global 'Too Big To Fail' Firms
- This report provides background on the the Financial Stability Board's (FSB) designation process for systemically significant financial institutions, but takes no position on any potential benefits or shortcomings of that process.
- Multilateral Development Banks: U.S. Contributions FY2000-FY2015
- This report shows in tabular form how much the Administration requested and how much Congress appropriated for U.S. payments to the multilateral development banks (MDBs) since 2000. It also provides a brief description of the MDBs and the ways they fund their operations.
- Financial Services and General Government (FSGG): FY2015 Appropriations
- This report discusses the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill, which includes funding for the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President (EOP), the judiciary, the District of Columbia, and more than two dozen independent agencies.
- What Is Systemic Risk? Does It Apply to Recent JP Morgan Losses?
- Systemic risk refers to the possibility that the financial system as a whole might become unstable, rather than the health of individual market participants. Stable financial systems do not transmit or magnify shocks to the broader economy. A firm, person, government, financial utility, or policy might create systemic risk if (1) its failure causes other failures in a domino effect; (2) news about its assets signals that others with similar assets may also be distressed, called contagion; (3) it contributes to fire sales during price declines; or (4) its absence prevents other firms from using an essential service, called critical functions. This report discusses how systemic risk may apply to JP Morgan's recent losses.
- Election in Greece
- This report discusses issues leading up to Greece's snap legislative election on September 20, only eight months after the country's last election. Greece continues to struggle with the negative repercussions of a sovereign debt and financial crisis that began in 2009.
- Reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank: Issues and Policy Options for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential issues and options for Congress relating to the reauthorization of Ex-Im Bank. The scope of this report is limited to Ex-Im Bank reauthorization issues.
- DRIVE Act Would Increase Highway Funding Faster than Projected Inflation
- This report briefly discusses the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act (DRIVE Act; S. 1647). The DRIVE Act would authorize $278 billion for a six-year federal highway program.
- The National Flood Insurance Program: Status and Remaining Issues for Congress
- This report provides an analysis of flood risk management, summarizes major challenges facing the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and outlines key reforms in the recently enacted Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. The report also identifies and presents some key remaining flood management issues for congressional considerations, and it concludes with a discussion of relevant policy options for the future financial management of flood hazards in the United States.
- Efforts to Delay the Gradual Elimination of Flood Insurance Premium Subsidies
- This report examines legislative efforts in Congress to delay the gradual phase-out of subsidized flood insurance premiums, which is required under Sections 100205 and 100207 of P.L. 112-141, the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2012. This new law extended the authorization for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five years, through September 30, 2017, while requiring significant program reforms affecting flood insurance, flood hazard mapping, and floodplains management.
- The SBA Disaster Loan Program: Overview and Possible Issues for Congress
- This report provides an overview of the Disaster Loan Program, discusses how disaster declarations trigger the SBA loan process, explains the different types of loans potentially available to disaster victims, and discusses terms and restrictions related to each type of loan. The report also explains the SBA disaster loan application process and provides national data on SBA loans from 2000 to 2009, including data related to the Gulf Coast hurricanes since 2005.
- How Have Small Banks Been Affected by Financial Reform?
- This report briefly summarizes a CRS analysis of major rules issued since 2010 by banking regulators pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act.
- Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and Its Role in U.S. Trade Policy
- This report discusses the role of TAA in U.S. trade policy, from its inception as a legislative option in the early 1950s, to its core roles as a cornerstone of modern trade policy that many argue has served to promote the long-term U.S. trade liberalization agenda.
- Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and Its Role in U.S. Trade Policy
- This report discusses the role of Trade Adjustment Assistant (TAA) in U.S. trade policy, from its inception as a legislative option in the early 1950s, to its core role as a cornerstone of modern trade policy that many argue has served to promote the long-term U.S. trade liberalization agenda.
- Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Countries: Comparative Trade and Economic Analysis
- This report provides a comparative economic analysis of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries and their economic relations with the United States. TPP negotiating partners encompass great diversity in population, economic development, and trade and investment patterns with the United States.
- Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Issues and Proposed Expansion
- This report provides background information on IRAs, including a description of current law and the tax benefits of IRAs. In addition, the effects of IRAs on saving and other national objectives is discussed. A final section describes and analyzes recent IRA reform proposals.
- Independence of Federal Financial Regulators
- This report discusses institutional features that make federal financial regulators (as well as other independent agencies) relatively independent from the President and Congress.
- Terrorism Risk Insurance: Issue Analysis and Overview of Current Program
- This report looks at the background and current Congressional status of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002.
- The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress
- This report includes updated material that emphasizes the issues most prominently before the 113th Congress. It also discusses foundational information about major elements of campaign finance policy.
- Financial Assets and Conflict of Interest Regulation in the Executive Branch
- This report discusses the federal regulation of potential "conflicts of interest" which may arise as a result of the personal financial holdings, assets, securities, property, and financial transactions in assets and securities of an official in the executive branch of the federal government.
- Terrorism Risk Insurance: Issue Analysis and Overview of Current Program
- Report that looks at the background and current Congressional status of Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002.
- The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act: Title VII, Derivatives
- This report describes some of the requirements placed on the derivatives market by the Dodd-Frank Act, which provides exceptions to the clearing and trading requirements for commercial end-users, or firms that use derivatives to hedge the risks of their nonfinancial business operations.
- The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress
- This report includes updated material that emphasizes the issues most prominently before the 113th Congress. It also discusses foundational information about major elements of campaign finance policy.
- GSEs and the Government's Role in Housing Finance: Issues for the 113th Congress
- This report examines options concerning the future of the GSEs and the future government role in residential mortgage markets. Other CRS reports address related issues such as conservatorship, the GSEs' financial condition, residential mortgage markets in other nations, and affordable housing.
- Terrorism Risk Insurance: Issue Analysis and Overview of Current Program
- This report looks at the background and current Congressional status of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002.
- The 2007-2009 Recession: Similarities to and Differences from the Past
- According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the U.S. economy was in a recession for 18 months from December 2007 to June 2009. It was the longest and deepest recession of the post-World War II era. This report provides information on the patterns found across past recessions since World War II to gauge whether and how this recession might be different.
- Corporate Expatriation, Inversions, and Mergers: Tax Issues
- This report discusses relevant portions of the U.S. corporate income tax system and how inversions have commonly been structured. It also looks at how Congress and Department of the Treasury have reduced the benefits of inversions, including The American Jobs Creation Act, as well as post-2004 inversions and treasury regulations, and policy options.
- "Robo-Signing" and Other Alleged Documentation Problems in Judicial and Nonjudicial Foreclosure Processes
- Recent depositions involving major servicers, including GMAC Mortgage, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, have raised concerns about "robo-signing" -- the practice of having a small number of individuals sign a large number of affidavits and other legal documents submitted to courts and other public authorities by mortgage companies to execute foreclosure. This report explores concerns related to these issues by explaining the mortgage market process, procedural problems that have surfaced during foreclosure proceedings, and other relevant information.
- Structure and Functions of the Federal Reserve System
- This report examines the structure and operations of the major components of the Federal Reserve System and provides an overview of congressional oversight activities. The report identifies the provisions of P.L. 111-203 (the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act) that affect the structure and operations of the system.
- The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress
- This report includes updated material that emphasizes the issues most prominently before the 113th Congress. It also discusses foundational information about major elements of campaign finance policy.
- Tolling U.S. Highways
- This report provides a brief history of tolling on federal roads and current law. The report discusses financial realities on toll roads and tolling policy issues.
- Reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank: Issues and Policy Options for Congress
- This report provides background information and potential issues and options for Congress relating to the reauthorization of Ex-Im Bank. The scope of this report is limited to Ex-Im Bank reauthorization issues.
- Tailoring Bank Regulations: Differences in Bank Size, Activities, and Capital Levels
- This report discusses various types of banks and legislative proposals regarding how to tailor regulations to banks of different sizes.