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- Iraq Reconstruction Resources: Fact Sheet
- This fact sheet provides Internet links to the federal agencies or departments currently involved in the contracting process, along with their specific Iraq reconstruction programs underway or proposed. It provides overview information on federal agency contract solicitations, application procedures, and contact information where appropriate.
- The Basel Accords: The Implementation of II and the Modification of I
- This report provides the basic information needed to understand the issues surrounding the proposed implementation of Basel II and the pending proposed modifications of Basel I in the United States. First, it gives a basic background on capital standards and how capital assessments were made before these accords. Second, it briefly explains how Basel I works. Third, it addresses the major problem with Basel I and the modifications being considered. Fourth, it describes the Basel II framework the United States may implement and the framework the EU is already implementing. The report concludes with a section on Congress and the Basel Accords.
- Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO
- This report describes how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) deal with the issue of currency manipulation. It also discusses apparent discrepancies in their charters and ways those differences might be addressed.
- Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO
- This report describes how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) deal with the issue of currency manipulation. It also discusses apparent discrepancies in their charters and ways those differences might be addressed.
- Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO
- This report describes how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) deal with the issue of currency manipulation. It also discusses apparent discrepancies in their charters and ways those differences might be addressed.
- Bibliography on Multinational Banking and Related Aspects of Private International Finance 1960-MID 1976
- This report is on Bibliography on Multinational Banking and Related Aspects of Private International Finance 1960-MID 1976.
- Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO
- This report describes how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) deal with the issue of currency manipulation. It also discusses apparent discrepancies in their charters and ways those differences might be addressed.
- Crisis in Greece: Political Implications
- This report briefly discusses the political crisis resulting from what began as a debt crisis in Greece in late 2009. Many analysts believe that this political crisis could represent the most significant setback in over 60 years of European integration.
- Securities Fees and SEC Pay Parity
- No Description Available.
- Securities Fees and SEC Pay Parity: H.R. 1088 and S. 143
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Financing Reform: Lessons from the 1983 Amendments
- No Description Available.
- Currency Manipulation: The IMF and WTO
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) approach the issue of "currency manipulation" differently. The IMF Articles of Agreement prohibit countries from manipulating their currency for the purpose of gaining unfair trade advantage, but the IMF cannot force a country to change its exchange rate policies. The WTO has rules against subsidies, but these are very narrow and specific and do not seem to encompass currency manipulation. Several options might be considered for addressing this matter in the future, if policymakers deem this a wise course of action.
- Long-term Student Loans: Selected Proposals for Repayment according to "Ability to Pay".
- This report describes the loan proposals of Messrs. Kingman Brewster, Jr., Charles Killingsworth, Edward Shapiro, and William Vickrey and the more recent proposals of the panel on Educational Innovation. These proposals would permit a student to draw an advance at least equal to the cost of his education without imposing a financial burden on the taxpayer or the federal government.
- The Status of the Basel III Capital Adequacy Accord
- The new Basel Capital Adequacy Accord (Basel III) is an agreement among countries' central banks and bank supervisory authorities on the amount of capital banks must hold as a cushion against losses and insolvency. Basel III is of concern to Congress mainly because it could put U.S. financial institutions at a competitive disadvantage in world financial markets. This report follows the basic elements of the Basel III documents on the types of capital requirements and their phase-in schedule, which were approved by the Basel member central bank governors on September 12, 2010. The elements are the new definition of Tier 1 capital, the minimum common equity capital, the capital conservation buffer, countercyclical capital buffer, liquidity coverage ratio, global leverage ratio, and wind-down government capital injections. The report concludes with some implications drawn from its content.
- Campus-Based Student Financial Aid Programs Under the Higher Education Act
- This is a report on Computer-based Student Financial Aid Programs under the Higher Education Act.
- Highway and Transit Program Reauthorization Legislation in the 2nd Session, 108th Congress
- This report discusses significant legislative provisions in the two provisional bills that are likely to be the subject of congressional discussion to reauthorize federal highway, highway safety, and transit programs.
- Campaign Finance: Constitutional and Legal Issues of Soft Money
- This report discusses the political party soft money, corporate and labor union soft money and 107th congress legislative activity.
- Highway and Transit Program Reauthorization
- This report discusses significant legislative provisions in the two provisional bills that are likely to be the subject of congressional discussion to reauthorize federal highway, highway safety, and transit programs.
- Budget Reconciliation Legislation: Development and Consideration
- This report is about development and consideration in budget reconciliation legislation.
- The U.S. Financial Crisis: The Global Dimension with Implications for U.S. Policy
- This report examines the global ramifications of the financial crisis, which exposed fundamental weaknesses in financial systems worldwide, and despite coordinated easing of monetary policy by governments and trillions of dollars in intervention by governments and the International Monetary Fund, the crisis continues.
- China's Currency Devaluation
- This report discusses China's recent changes to its method for determining the value of its currency (the renminbi). On Tuesday, August 11, 2015, the People's Bank of China (PBC), China's central bank, surprised global financial markets by lowering the reference rate of the renminbi, effectively depreciating the currency.
- The Daiwa Bank Problems: Background and Policy Issues
- On November 2, 1995, U.S. banking authorities ordered the Daiwa Bank to close its banking operations in the United States, and a 24-count criminal indictment was issued against it. These actions stem from the bank's admission that Toshihide Iguchi, a rogue trader at its New York branch office, had incurred $1.1 billion in losses over eleven years from trading U.S. Treasury securities and that Daiwa managers had "directed that those losses be concealed" from U.S. regulators.
- Environmental Protection: How Much it Costs and Who Pays
- A recurring issue in environmental policy is the cost of pollution control imposed on individuals, businesses, and government. To inform policymakers about these costs, a number of surveys and analyses have been conducted over the years. consistent, basic sources have been an annual survey of costs to manufacturers, conducted by the Bureau of Census(BOC), and an annual analysis of total costs, prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis(BEA). Overall, the BEA analysis showed the nation spent $122 billion for pollution abatement and control in 1994, or about 1.76% of Gross Domestic Product. Personal consumption expenditures for pollution control were $22 billion, government 435 billion, and business $65 billion. These 1994 data represent the end of the annual series; the BOC survey and BEA analysis have been discontinued
- The Global Financial Crisis: The Role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- This report discusses two potential roles the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have in helping to resolve the current global financial crisis: (1) immediate crisis control through balance of payments lending to emerging market and less-developed countries and (2) increased surveillance of the global economy through better coordination with the international financial regulatory agencies.
- The Global Financial Crisis: The Role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- This report discusses two potential roles the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have in helping to resolve the current global financial crisis: (1) immediate crisis control through balance of payments lending to emerging market and less-developed countries and (2) increased surveillance of the global economy through better coordination with the international financial regulatory agencies.
- Highway and Transit Program Reauthorization Legislation in the 2nd Session, 108th Congress
- This report discusses significant legislative provisions in the two provisional bills that are likely to be the subject of congressional discussion to reauthorize federal highway, highway safety, and transit programs.
- Hedge Funds: Should They Be Regulated?
- In view of the growing impact of hedge funds on a variety of financial markets, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in October 2004 adopted a regulation that requires hedge funds to register as investment advisers, disclose basic information about their operations, and open their books for inspection. The regulation took effect in February 2006, but on June 23, 2006, a court challenge was upheld and the rule was vacated. S. 1402 and H.R. 2586 would reinstate the SEC's authority. H.R. 2683 would require defined benefit pension plans to disclose investments in hedge funds. In December 2006, the SEC proposed raising the "accredited investor" standard - to be permitted to invest in hedge funds, an investor would need $2.5 million in assets, instead of $1 million.
- Electronic Funds Transfer: Some Legal Issues
- This report discusses the Electronic Funds Transfer System, known as EFTS, and the privacy issues posed by EFT.
- U.S. Direct Investment Abroad: Trends and Current Issues
- The United States is the largest investor abroad and the largest recipient of direct investment in the world. Some observers believe U.S. firms invest abroad to avoid U.S. labor unions or high U.S. wages, however, 70% of U.S. foreign direct investment is concentrated in high income developed countries. Even more striking is the fact that the share of investment going to developing countries has fallen in recent years. Most economists conclude that direct investment abroad does not lead to fewer jobs or lower incomes overall for Americans and that the majority of jobs lost among U.S. manufacturing firms over the past decade reflect a broad restructuring of U.S. manufacturing industries.
- The Global Financial Crisis: Increasing IMF Resources and the Role of Congress
- This report provides information on the role the IMF has played in the financial crisis, international agreement to increase the financial resources of the IMF, and the role of Congress in increasing the Fund's resources. As will be discussed in detail at the end of the report, congressional authorization, and perhaps appropriation, would be required to increase U.S. contributions to the IMF.
- The Fortune 500 -- Names, Addresses and Officers of the 500 Largest Industrial Corporations in the U.S. Ranked by Sales in 1976
- This report is an expansion of the basic information given in the Fortune 500 listing for 1975 as published in the May 1977 issue of Fortune magazine.
- Multilateral Development Banks: U.S. Contributions FY1998-2009
- This report shows in tabular form how much the Administration requested and how much Congress appropriated during the past 11 years for U.S. payments to the multilateral development banks (MDBs). It also provides a brief description of the MDBs and the ways they fund their operations. It will be updated periodically. Three companion reports provide further information on the MDBs. See CRS Report RS20793, Multilateral Development Banks: Basic Background, CRS Report RS20791, Multilateral Development Banks: Procedures for U.S. Participation, and CRS Report RS22134 International Financial Institutions: Funding U.S. Participation.
- Glass-Steagall Act: Commercial vs. Investment Banking
- This report discusses debate over reform of the Nation's financial structure in the 100th Congress includes re-examination of "the separation of banking and commerce." This separation was mandated by the Glass-Steagall Act (part of the Banking Act of 1933); and was carried forward into the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended in 1970 and thereafter. The resulting isolation of banking from securities was designed to (1) maintain the integrity of the banking system; (2) prevent self-dealing and other financial abuses; and (3) limit stock market speculation. By half a century later, the "wall" it created seemed to be crumbling, as bankers created new financial products resembling securities, and securities firms innovated new financial products resembling loans and deposits. The ongoing process of "financial deregulation" has evoked calls for Congress to give depository institutions new powers, especially in the securities field. Financial deregulation in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan has put additional pressure on Congress to re-examine this Act. Concerns over a seemingly fragile system of depository institutions persist, however, tending to place counter-pressure on Congress to maintain the Act.
- Campaign Finance Debate in the House: Substitute Amendments to H.R. 2183 (105th Congress)
- This report summarizes and compares the 11 substitute amendments to campaign finance reform bills that have passed the House and Senate.
- Campaign Finance Reform Bills in the 105th Congress: Comparison of H.R. 3485 (Thomas), S. 25 (McCain-Feingold), and Current Law
- No Description Available.
- Campaign Finance Reform: Comparison of Current Law with H.R. 3 and S. 3, As Passed by the House and Senate in the 103d Congress
- No Description Available.
- Campaign Finance Law: A Legal Analysis of the Supreme Court Ruling in McConnell v. FEC
- This report consists of campaign finance law with a legal analysis of the supreme court ruling in McConnell v. FEC.
- Charitable Choice: Constitutional Issues and Developments Through the 106th Congress
- This report is about the charitable choice of constitutional issues and developments through the 106th congress.
- Campaign Finance Reform: A Legal Analysis of Issue and Express Advocacy
- This report consists of campaign finance reform with a legal analysis of issue and express advocacy.
- Campaign Finance Bills Passed in the 107th Congress: Comparison of S. 27 (McCain-Feingold), H.R. 2356 (Shays-Meehan), and Current Law
- This report summarizes and compares the two campaign finance reforms bills that have passed the House and Senate in the 107th congress and current law cases.
- Campaign Finance Bills in the 105th Congress: Comparison of H.R. 2183 (Hutchinson-Allen), H.R. 3526 (Shays-Meehan), and Current Law
- This report is about the Finance reform in May 1998 in the 105th congress.
- Campaign Finance Reform: A Legal Analysis of Issue and Express Advocacy
- This report consists of campaign finance reform with a legal analysis of issue and express advocacy.
- The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA)
- This report outlines the background and original passage of the ILSA (Iran-Libya Sanctions Act), its key provisions which excluded Libya from the act, its implementation and effectiveness and the proposed modifications and extensions to the ILSA.
- Iceland's Financial Crisis
- This report discusses the banking collapse in Iceland. Iceland's banking system had collapsed as a result of a culmination of a series of decisions the banks made that left them highly exposed to disruptions in financial markets. The collapse of the banks raised questions for U.S. leaders and others about supervising banks that operate across national borders, especially as it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish the limits of domestic financial markets.
- Energy Policy: The Continuing Debate
- This report includes background and analysis of the debate on energy policy. Non-tax energy production initiatives, nuclear energy, and energy restructuring are also among topics discussed in this report.
- Iceland's Financial Crisis
- On November 19, 2008, Iceland and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) finalized an agreement on a $6 billion economic stabilization program supported by a $2.1 billion loan from the IMF. Iceland's banking system had collapsed as a culmination of a series of decisions the banks made that left them highly exposed to disruptions in financial markets. The collapse of the banks also raises questions for U.S. leaders and others about supervising banks that operate across national borders, especially as it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish the limits of domestic financial markets.
- Financing the U.S. Trade Deficit
- The U.S. merchandise trade deficit is a part of the overall U.S. balance of payments, a summary statement of all economic transactions between the residents of the United States and the rest of the world, during a given period of time. Some Members of Congress and other observers have grown concerned over the magnitude of the growing U.S. merchandise trade deficit and the associated increase in U.S. dollar-denominated assets owned by foreigners. This report provides an overview of the U.S. balance of payments, an explanation of the broader role of capital flows in the U.S. economy, an explanation of how the country finances its trade deficit or a trade surplus, and the implications for Congress and the country of the large inflows of capital from abroad.
- U.S. Direct Investment Abroad: Trends and Current Issues
- The United States is the largest investor abroad and the largest recipient of direct investment in the world. Some observers believe U.S. firms invest abroad to avoid U.S. labor unions or high U.S. wages, however, 70% of U.S. foreign direct investment is concentrated in high income developed countries. Even more striking is the fact that the share of investment going to developing countries has fallen in recent years. Most economists conclude that direct investment abroad does not lead to fewer jobs or lower incomes overall for Americans and that the majority of jobs lost among U.S. manufacturing firms over the past decade reflect a broad restructuring of U.S. manufacturing industries.
- Campaign Finance Legislation and Activity in the 109th Congress
- This report describes Campaign Finance Legislation and Activity in the 109th Congress.
- A New Reconstruction Finance Corporation or National Development Bank: Some Basic Issues and Three Proposals
- This report discusses some basic issues and three proposals of a new reconstruction finance corporation. It also points out the organizations that would provide credit to private firms, local government and other groups through a variety of devices including direct loans, guaranteed loans, and stock purchases.