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Banking Policy Issues in the 115th Congress

Description: This report provides a broad overview of selected banking-related issues, including prudential regulation, consumer protection, "too big to fail" (TBTF) banks, community banking, regulatory agency structures and independence, and recent market and economic trends. It is not an exhaustive look at all bank policy issues, nor is it a detailed examination of any one issue. Rather, it provides concise background and analyses of certain prominent issues that have been the subject of recent discussion… more
Date: May 26, 2017
Creator: Perkins, David W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Commodity Futures Trading Commission: Proposed Reauthorization in the 115th Congress

Description: This report examines selected major H.R. 238 provisions that would authorize appropriations for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of $250 million for each of FY2017 through FY2021, expand the current 5 cost-benefit analysis provisions in the CEA to 12 considerations and add a requirement that the CFTC conduct quantitative as well as qualitative assessments, potentially broaden the bona fide hedging definition to allow anticipated, as well as current, risks to be hedged, which migh… more
Date: September 29, 2017
Creator: Miller, Rena S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Small Business Administration Microloan Program

Description: This report describes the Microloan program's eligibility standards and operating requirements for lenders and borrowers and examines the arguments presented by the program's critics and advocates. It also examines changes to the program authorized by P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.
Date: August 9, 2011
Creator: Dilger, Robert J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Budgetary Treatment of Federal Credit (Direct Loans and Loan Guarantees): Concepts, History, and Issues for Congress

Description: The purpose of this report is to explain the provisions of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 or FCRA; examine the implementation of credit reform, including credit reform provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105- 33, §1011; 111 Stat. 254,692); discuss proposed modifications of credit reform; and describe proposed legislation in the 113th Congress.
Date: June 24, 2014
Creator: Levit, Mindy R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Ability to Repay, Risk-Retention Standards, and Mortgage Credit Access

Description: This report examines the developments associated with the implementation of mortgage lending reforms. The report begins with a summary of proposed ability to repay and risk-retention standards. Next, the report describes risky underwriting and financing practices that occurred prior to the mortgage crisis, followed by a discussion of how access to mortgage credit might be affected.
Date: June 5, 2012
Creator: Getter, Darryl E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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How Treasury Issues Debt

Description: This report examines Treasury's debt management practices, focusing on the auction process, how prices and interest rates of securities are determined, and the role of market participants in the process. It also addresses the role of debt plays in influencing present and future budget outcomes.
Date: August 18, 2016
Creator: Driessen, Grant A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Export-Import Bank: Frequently Asked Questions

Description: This report addresses frequently-asked questions about the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank, grouped in the following categories: congressional interest and the Ex-Im Bank reauthorization debate; market context; international context; organizational structure and management; programs; statutory requirements and policies; risk management; budget and appropriations; implications of a sunset in authority; and historical and current approaches to reauthorization.
Date: April 13, 2016
Creator: Akhtar, Shayerah Ilias; Carpenter, David H.; Driessen, Grant A. & Taylor, Julia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's Financial Problems

Description: This report discusses the continuing conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at a time of uncertainty in the housing, mortgage, and financial markets has raised doubts about the future of these enterprises, which are chartered by Congress as government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and whose debts are widely believed to be implicitly guaranteed by the federal government.
Date: April 2, 2012
Creator: Weiss, N. Eric
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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How Treasury Issues Debt

Description: This report examines Treasury's debt management practices, focusing on the auction process, how prices and interest rates of securities are determined, and the role of market participants in the process. It also addresses the role of debt plays in influencing present and future budget outcomes.
Date: October 1, 2015
Creator: Driessen, Grant A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Supervision of U.S. Payment, Clearing, and Settlement Systems: Designation of Financial Market Utilities (FMUs)

Description: This report outlines the changes to the supervision of key market infrastructure that are embodied in the Dodd-Frank Act. It is intended to be used as a reference for those interested in the financial system's "plumbing," and how the associated systems are currently overseen and regulated.
Date: September 10, 2012
Creator: Labonte, Marc
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The United States as a Net Debtor Nation: Overview of the International Investment Position

Description: The international investment position of the United States is an annual measure of the assets Americans own abroad and the assets foreigners own in the United States. The net position, or the difference between the two, sometimes is referred to as a measure of U.S. international indebtedness. This report looks at international investing patterns and impacts, and ends with considerations on this topic for Congress.
Date: July 28, 2010
Creator: Jackson, James K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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State Small Business Credit Initiative: Implementation and Funding Issues

Description: This report examines the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) and its implementation, including Treasury's response to initial program audits conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Treasury's Office of Inspector General (OIG). The SSBCI provides funding, allocated by formula and distributed in one-third increments, to states, territories, and eligible municipalities (hereinafter referred to as states) to expand existing or create new state small business inve… more
Date: October 16, 2014
Creator: Dilger, Robert Jay
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Army Corps Supplemental Appropriations: Recent History, Trends, and Policy Issues

Description: This report provides analysis of Corps supplemental funding. Its focus is recent decades of supplemental funding provided directly to the Corps, and it does not include extensive analysis of regular Corps appropriations.
Date: September 19, 2013
Creator: Stern, Charles V. & Carter, Nicole T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Climate Change Funding from FY2008 to FY2014

Description: This report summarizes direct federal funding identified as climate change-related from FY2008 enacted funding through FY2013 and the FY2014 request (as well as a less consistent series beginning with FY2001). It reports the Administration's estimates of tax revenues not received due to energy tax provisions that may reduce GHG emissions. The report briefly identifies the programs and funding levels, as well as some qualifications and observations on reporting of federal funding. It further off… more
Date: September 13, 2013
Creator: Leggett, Jane A.; Lattanzio, Richard K. & Bruner, Emily
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Paris Club and International Debt Relief

Description: This report discusses the Paris Club, a voluntary, informal group of creditor nations who meet approximately 10 times per year and provide debt relief to developing countries. Members of the Paris Club agree to renegotiate and/or reduce official debt owed to them on a case-by-case basis.
Date: December 11, 2013
Creator: Weiss, Martin A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Capital Markets, Securities Offerings, and Related Policy Issues

Description: This report analyzes legislative proposals that would generally affect the terms and amounts of capital provided to companies by investors. It analyzes a number of current legislative proposals and agency actions to expand both public and private securities offerings through amendments to program design, investor access, and disclosure requirements, among other provisions.
Date: June 8, 2018
Creator: Su, Eva
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Debates over Exchange Rates: Overview and Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides information on current debates over exchange rates in the global economy. It offers an overview of how exchange rates work; analyzes specific disagreements and debates; and examines existing frameworks for potentially addressing currency disputes. It also lays out some policy options available to Congress.
Date: June 22, 2018
Creator: Nelson, Rebecca M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Capital Markets, Securities Offerings, and Related Policy Issues

Description: This report analyzes legislative proposals that would generally affect the terms and amounts of capital provided to companies by investors. It analyzes a number of current legislative proposals and agency actions to expand both public and private securities offerings through amendments to program design, investor access, and disclosure requirements, among other provisions.
Date: July 26, 2018
Creator: Su, Eva
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Treasury Securities and the U.S. Sovereign Credit Default Swap Market

Description: This report explains how the sovereign credit default swap (CDS) market works and how such CDS price trends may illuminate fiscal stresses facing sovereign governments. Although CDS prices may be imperfect measures of the federal government's fiscal condition, some investors may try to glean information from those price trends. CDS prices have been playing an important role in the European government debt markets and could potentially affect U.S debt markets in the future. European policymakers… more
Date: July 25, 2011
Creator: Austin, D. Andrew & Miller, Rena S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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