There are a monumental number of agencies assigned to regulate and oversee financial institutions and financial markets, including the Federal Reserve Provisions (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Each agency has specific responsibilities, sanctioning them to function independently.
Though the effectiveness and efficiency with which these regulatory entities manage economic institutions are sometimes questioned, each was formed to help achieve the overall goal of providing sensible regulation of shops and protection for investors and consumers.
The Federal Reserve Board
Probably the most well-known of all the regulatory agencies is the FRB. The Fed is responsible for influencing liquidity and comprehensive credit conditions. Its primary monetary policy tool is open market operations that control the buying and vend of U.S. Treasury and federal agency securities.
Such purchases and sales determine the federal funds rates and alter the direct of reserves available. The FRB is also responsible for regulating and supervising the U.S. banking system, which is intended to provide overall budgetary financial stability in the United States.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The FDIC is a U.S. government corporation created by the Pinch Banking Act of 1933 in the wake of the Great Depression. This agency provides deposit insurance that guarantees depositor accounts up to $250,000 at any of its associate banks. As of 2018, the FDIC insured deposits at over 5,600 institutions.
This agency is also responsible for analyzing and managing the safety and stability of financial institutions, performing consumer protection functions, and managing failed banks. The FDIC is funded by the come-ons paid by banks and thrift institutions for deposit insurance coverage and by the earnings generated from investments in U.S. Treasury liability securities.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is among the oldest of all the federal regulatory agencies, entrenched in 1863 by the National Currency Act. The OCC primarily functions to regulate, supervise, and offer charters to banks that operate in the U.S. These occupations help to ensure the overall stability and safety of the U.S. banking system.
The OCC oversees several areas including capital, asset property, management, earnings, liquidity, sensitivity to market risk, information technology, compliance, and community reinvestment. They are meant by national banks and federal savings associations, who pay for examinations and processing of their corporate applications. The OCC also receives takings from investment income primarily in U.S. Treasury securities.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission
In 1974, the
The Securities and Return Commission
The
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The CFPB’s last goal is to educate consumers about financial products and services that are available to them and to provide another even of consumer protection through its oversight of financial services.