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Ever since the financial crisis hit the world in 2008 discussion has ensued on who is at fault and how can we make sure something like this never happens again. At the heart of this debate are banks - especially global ones. Legislative bodies across the globe have acted in an attempt to stabilize the banking system and stop financial panics that dry up credit. From Basel III to Dodd-Frank many attempts have been undertaken.
In a relatively new development the Federal Reserve in the United States is trying insulate the local banks from the actions of the rest of the worlds banks. This process was started in the Dodd-Frank act which required foreign owned banks to meet the same capital requirements American banks for the division's operating within U.S. borders. As with much legislation using loopholes international banks were able to shuffle their money around into less regulated vehicles. The Federal Reserve has now tried to put an end to this. Required now is that foreign owned banks will have to group their American subsidiaries into an intermediate holding company. These intermediate holding companies will now be required to meet all the same standards as similar American banks.
Clearly the international banking system has a long way to go if they want to be considered stable but trying to move that process forward are institutions such as the Federal Reserve. It is impossible to know where this leads but international banking may never be the same.
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