Congressional Research Service Reports - 113 Matching Results
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- The Overseas Private Investment Corporation: Background and Legislative Issues
- The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)1 was established in 1969 and began operations in 1971 to promote and assist U.S. business investment in developing nations. OPIC is a U.S. government agency that provides project financing, investment insurance, and other services for U.S. businesses in 154 developing nations and emerging economies. OPIC is currently authorized through March 9, 2009 under the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L. 110-329).
- Reporting Issues Under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
- This report describes current issues and recent changes to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) of 1975. The report also provides a brief explanation of how recent reporting revisions may affect the reporting of loans covered by the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 and the Federal Housing Administration.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Federal Grants-in-Aid Administration: A Primer
- No Description Available.
- Mergers and Consolidation Between Banking and Financial Services Firms: Trends and Prospects
- No Description Available.
- Export-Import Bank: Background and Legislative Issues
- This report discusses the Export-Import Bank (Ex-In Bank), the chief U.S. government agency that helps finance American exports of manufactured goods and services with the objective of contributing to the employment of U.S. workers.
- U.S. Direct Investment Abroad: Trends and Current Issues
- Report that provides a brief overview of how foreign investments can affect the U.S.
- Tax Gap: Proposals in the 110th Congress to Require Brokers to Report Basis on Publicly Traded Securities
- Recent and projected large deficits and the need for revenue to offset spending or tax reduction proposals generated congressional and executive branch interest in different proposals to reduce the tax gap; and consequently, raise additional revenue. Proposals in the 110th Congress to require brokers to report adjusted basis on publicly traded securities sold by individuals are examined in this report.
- FHA-Insured Home Loans: An Overview
- No Description Available.
- An Overview of Physician Payment Methods in the United States
- This report discusses the process and various methods of paying doctors in the United States.
- Auction Basics: Background for Assessing Proposed Treasury Purchases of Mortgage- Backed Securities
- This report discusses the administrations' proposal to use reverse Dutch auctions to purchase troubled assets -- primarily mortgage-related securities from financial institutions.
- How Treasury Issues Debt
- 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.
- The United States as a Net Debtor Nation: Overview of the International Investment Position
- This report provides an overview of the international investment position and the United states as a net debtor nation.
- State Small Business Credit Initiative: Implementation and Funding Issues
- 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 investment programs, including state capital access programs, collateral support programs, loan participation programs, loan guarantee programs, and venture capital programs.
- Annuities and the Securities and Exchange Commission Proposed Rule 151A
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently released a proposed rule that would effectively reclassify equity indexed annuities as a security product in addition to being an insurance product. This report presents the different types of annuities, explains the taxation of annuities, and disentangles the federal and state roles in the regulation of annuities. It outlines the proposed SEC rule and its current status.
- Inequality in the Distribution of Income: Trends and International Comparisons
- This report examines the distribution of income in the United States, including factors that may help explain it, how it has changed over time, and how it compares with those of other countries.
- The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: Selected Issues
- This report begins with a brief legislative and regulatory history of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, with a brief description of how the program works. It also describes several selected program issues that have received recent congressional and stakeholder attention, issues identified in reviews of the program, and issues that have been raised by researchers, analysts, and other entities outside of the government.
- Federal Advisory Committees: An Introduction and Overview
- This report offers a history of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), examines its current requirements, and provides data on federal advisory committees' operations and costs.
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization: An Overview of Legislative Action in the 111th Congress
- This report tracks the status of ongoing legislative action and debate related to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization. It is organized into six major program areas: aviation system finance; airport financing; FAA management and organizational issues; system capacity and safety; environmental issues; and airline industry issues. In several cases, provisions that appear in various unrelated sections of proposed legislation have been rearranged in this report in an effort to group and discuss related items in an issue-driven or programmatic context. Since this report is primarily written as a means of communicating key legislative provisions under consideration in the ongoing FAA reauthorization process, it does not go into detail regarding the specific policy issues behind these legislative proposals.
- 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.
- Federally Subsidized Housing Program Benefits
- This report consists of federally subsidized housing program benefits.
- 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.
- China and the Multilateral Development Banks
- Congress is currently considering appropriations for U.S. contributions to the World Bank and other multilateral development banks (MDBs) as well as separate legislation that would require U.S. representatives to these institutions to oppose all concessional loans to China. This report provides a brief analysis of China’s relationship with the MDBs to highlight some issues and help Members of Congress, congressional staff, and observers better understand the context for the current debates in Congress and the multilateral agencies.
- Airline Reorganization Under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code
- This report discusses how U.S. Airways filed bankruptcy in 2002. This called for a reorganization of the company's assets which are mostly leased including land, planes, and equipment.
- 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.
- Industry Trade Effects Related to NAFTA
- This report will look at the broad effect of NAFTA on the U.S. economy and the trade-related effects at the industry level.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- Electronic Banking: The Check Truncation Issue
- If all checks were replaced by electronic transactions, the exact cost savings would still be unknown, because estimates of the cost of using a check and the number of checks written each year remain in dispute. Consequently, estimates of cost savings range from $1.4 billion annually for truncation alone to $68 billion for replacing checks with electronic payments. A significant part of the savings comes from eliminating the handling, sorting, and physically transporting of checks to the paying bank. To clear checks electronically, banks must negotiate processing agreements thatmake it unnecessary to physically present the paper check. Since the benefits are not uniformly dispersed among the participants, banks have found it difficult to obtain these agreements, thus constraining the widespread adoption of electronic check clearing.
- Multilateral Development Banks: Issues for the 107th Congress
- No Description Available.
- Social Security: Taxation of Benefits
- No Description Available.
- Social Security Reform
- No Description Available.
- 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.
- VA Housing: Guaranteed Loans, Direct Loans, and Specially Adapted Housing Grants
- This report discusses three types of housing assistance--the loan guaranty program, direct loan programs, and Specially Adapted Housing program-- includingg their origins, how they operate, and how they are funded. It also briefly describes a home rehabilitation pilot program designed to help veterans who have low incomes or disabilities repair or modify their homes, and has a section that discusses the default and foreclosure of VA-guaranteed loans.
- Labor Market Patterns Since 2007
- This report uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to outline how various factors have affected the U.S. labor market from 2007-2018. It includes background and sections related to impacts of cyclical and structural change, full employment, the changing composition of employment -- both industry and occupation as well as demographics, and what to expect going forward.
- Campaign Finance: Legislative Developments and Policy Issues in the 110th Congress
- This report provides an overview of legislative developments in the 110th Congress regarding campaign finance laws.
- Economic Stimulus: Issues and Policy
- This report discusses the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which included tax cut and spending provisions totaling at a cost of $787 billion in an attempt to mitigate the economic fallout of the housing and financial crises on the general economy. The report examines issues surrounding fiscal stimulus such as timeliness, the magnitude of stimulus, long-term effects and previously adopted policies.
- Medicaid and Outpatient Hospital Services
- This report provides an overview of the medicaid and outpatient hospital services.
- ISTEA Reauthorization: Highway Related Legislative Proposals in the 105th Congress
- Authorizing legislation for federal surface transportation programs highway, highway safety, and transit expired at the end of FY1997. The federal framework for these programs was created by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-240), better known as ISTEA. ISTEA was the first major highway act of the post interstate highway construction era. As such, it is regarded as landmark legislation.
- Campaign Financing
- This is one report in the series of reports that discuss the campaign finance practices and related issues. Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. The report talks about the today’s paramount issues such as perceived loopholes in current law and the longstanding issues: overall costs, funding sources, and competition.
- Campaign Financing
- This is one report in the series of reports that discuss the campaign finance practices and related issues. Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. The report talks about the today’s paramount issues such as perceived loopholes in current law and the longstanding issues: overall costs, funding sources, and competition.
- Burma Sanctions: Background and Options
- This report provides background information on existing Burma Sanctions and possible future options. It details U.S sanctions on Burma
- The Small Business Lending Fund
- This report discusses on the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF). It begins with a discussion of the supply and demand for small business loans. The SBLF's advocates argued that the fund was an important part of a larger effort to enhance the supply of small business loans. After describing the program's structure, the report then examines other arguments that were presented both for and against the program's enactment. Advocates claimed the SBLF would increase lending to small businesses and, in turn, create jobs. Opponents contended that the SBLF could lose money, lacked sufficient oversight provisions, did not require lenders to increase their lending to small businesses, could serve as a vehicle for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) recipients to effectively refinance their TARP loans on more favorable terms with little or no resulting benefit for small businesses, and could encourage a failing lender to make even riskier loans to avoid higher dividend payments. The report concludes with an examination of the SBLF's implementation by the Department of the Treasury and a discussion of bills introduced during recent Congresses to amend the SBLF.
- "Regulatory Relief" for Banking: Selected Legislation in the 114th Congress
- This report discusses regulatory relief legislation for banks in the 114th Congress that, at the time this report was published, has seen floor action or has been ordered to be reported by a committee. Many, but not all, of the bills would make changes to the Dodd-Frank Act (P.L. 111-203), wide ranging financial reform enacted in response to the financial crisis.
- Derivatives Regulation: Legislation in the 106th Congress
- The 106th Congress is considering a general overhaul of derivatives regulation. Pending legislation would codify the unregulated status of certain derivatives, exempt many other currently-regulated contracts from oversight by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and permit the trading of a new kind of contract: a futures contract based on the stock of an individual corporation. Derivatives legislation has been reported out of committee in both House and Senate. This report analyzes this legislation in the 106th Congress, and will be updated as developments warrant.
- Multiemployer Defined Benefit (DB) Pension Plans: A Primer and Analysis of Policy Options
- This report discusses the nature of multiemployer defined benefit (DB) pension plans, and issues regarding their financial solvency.