Changes in Institutions and Capital Markets Following the Financial Crisis
Beginning even before the full impact of the 2007-2009 (and continuing) financial crisis was
appreciated, governments, financial regulators, and the financial institutions themselves have
implemented major changes in the practices of those institutions. These changes continue and
will have a dramatic impact on the ways that the finance industry operates. These changes
include (but are certainly not limited to):
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”he Dodd-Frank Bill in the US
The Basel III capital standards which will significantly increase the amount and type of
capital that banks are required to hold
Intervention by central banks to support the liquidity of financial institutions by
purchasing securities from or lending against those securities as collateral to the
institutions (which also functions as a monetary policy device to increase the money
supply and maintain low interest rate)
Nationalizing or forcing the merger of financial institutions
Separating commercial banking and investment banking operations
Limiting the size or market share of institutions
Restricting commercial and investment banks from trading for their own account
Requiring all (or a greater proportion of) derivatives trades to be conducted over listed
exchanges
Restructuring how LIBOR (or a replacement interest rate benchmark) is calculated
Forcing junior and senior bondholders (and depositors in the case of Cyprus) to share in
the losses when a bank is bailed out
Limiting or banning certain practices such as short selling of the equity of financial
Institutions
Bank lending practices, including predatory lending
Limiting or intervening in the foreclosure of defaulted mortgage loans
Restricting the use of ratings developed by the commercial rating agencies such as
Moodyì Standard & Pooràand Fitch
Restructuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as other GSEs
Select one of these changes and analyze it. Select an issue (or part of an issue) which is possible
to you to sufficiently grasp and analyze. For example, the Dodd Frank Act is much too broad, at
1000+ pages, to tackle, so taking one aspect of the Act, such as the so-called Volker Rule, or the
limitation on credit ratings might be more reasonable to tackle. Your selection can extend
beyond this list, to examine other actions and can include those in markets outside the US,
subject to the approval of the instructor.
Papers should be between 12 and 15 pages double spaced, and 15 should be considered a
reasonable maximum. Papers MUST include a bibliography of sources cited. Any direct or
indirect quoting or paraphrasing of other material MUST be footnoted. While facts and
information will underlie the discussion, the key to this assignment is your analysis and
conclusions regarding the topic. The analysis should at a minimum include:
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 description of the problem or issue it was intended to address
Who, and to what degree, is affected by the action? In a positive or negative way? For
example, restrictions on lending behavior affects the lenders themselves, the potential
borrowers, and potentially the economy as a whole.
What has been the result of that action? Some may not be fully implemented but
actions may already have been taken to address them, for example, increases in
required bank capital under Basel III will not be required for several years but banks
have already taken action to increase their capital).

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