A comparative analysis of the US and EU retail banking markets - Wsbi

As far as coordination at the federal level is
concerned, of note is the passing of the Financial
Institutions Regulatory and Interest Rate Control Act
of 1978 142 , which led to the establishment of a new
interagency body, the Federal Financial Institutions
Examination Council (FFIEC). This Council 143 was
formally established on 10 March 1979. Its main aim
is to coordinate the Federal examination of financial
institutions by the OCC, the FDIC, the Fed, the
Federal Home Loan Bank Board 144 , and the National
Credit Union Administration. Its role is thus to ensure
uniformity in the supervisory tasks of the abovenamed
bodies.
The main functions of the FFIEC, listed in the Act of
1978, include setting uniform principles, standards
and report forms for the examination of financial
institutions applied by the federal agencies as well as
making recommendations for uniformity in supervisory
matters and developing uniform reporting systems for
federally supervised financial institutions. Additional
tasks include conducting schools for examiners and
assistant examiners. In all, there are six interagency
staff task forces which administer projects in all
functional areas of the Council: Consumer Compliance,
Examiner Education, Information Sharing, Reports,
Supervision and Surveillance Systems. Additionally
the Council has a Legal Advisory Group.
Importantly, according to the same Act of 1978, the
Council may establish a liaison committee of State
agencies supervising financial institutions. This has
resulted in the establishment of the advisory State
Liaison Committee (SLC), the primary objectives of
which are to foster communication and cooperation
between state and federal supervisory authorities
and to reduce redundant supervisory procedures.
Several bodies were also established to foster
coordination between the state supervisors, such as
the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS),
the National Association of State Credit Union
Supervisors (NASCUS) and the American Council of
State Savings Supervisors (ACSSS).
4.2.2.1.1.3.1 The Conference of State Bank
Supervisors (CSBS)
The CSBS is the professional association of state
officials who charter, regulate and supervise the nation’s
approximately 6,200 state-chartered commercial and
savings banks, and more than 400 state-licensed
foreign banking offices nationwide. It was founded
in 1902 and aims to bring together all of the state
bank supervisors at the national level to coordinate,
communicate, advocate and educate on behalf of
the state banking system.
4.2.2.1.1.3.2 National Association of State Credit
Union Supervisors (NASCUS)
The NASCUS was founded in 1965. It represents
48 state governmental and U.S. territorial agencies
that charter, regulate and examine the nation’s statechartered
credit unions.
4.2.2.1.1.3.3 The American Council of
State Savings Supervisors (ACSSS)
The ACSSS is a national organisation of state
savings institution regulators. It was formerly called
the National Association of State Savings & Loan
Supervisors (NASS&LS).
4.2.2.1.2 Responsible authorities in
the securities area
The organisation of regulation and supervision in the
securities area is different from that of the banking
sector in as much as the supervision takes place
exclusively at the federal level. The responsibilities
are shared between the agencies (the Securities and
Exchange Commission – SEC, the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission – CFTC) and the so-called Self
Regulatory Organisations (SROs).
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is
responsible for ensuring the smooth functioning of
the US financial markets. Its main missions are to
ensure the protection of investors as well as the
integrity of the markets. In this context, one task of
the SEC consists in monitoring the Self Regulatory
Organisations (SROs), such as the traditional stock
exchanges (including for instance the New York
Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange)
and most alternative markets (such as NASD and
most Electronic Communication Networks – ECNs).
142 Financial Institutions Regulatory and Interest Rate Control Act of 1978, Title X Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (also called Federal Financial
Institutions Examination Council Act of 1978), Sections 1001 and following.
143 According to its purpose the Council consists of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the FDIC, a Governor of the Fed
Board of Governors, the Director, Office of Thrift Supervision and the Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration Board.
144 The Federal Home Loan Bank Board was established as an independent agency by the Housing Amendments of 1955. Its functions were to provide reserve credit
for member institutions engaged in home mortgage lending. It governed the Federal Home Loan Bank System. It was abolished on 8 October 1989 by the Financial
Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989. Among its successor agencies is the Office of Thrift Supervision, Department of Treasury.
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