The Basel Accord will affect the availability and cost of credit to U.S. businesses of all sizes. That is unless U.S. regulators act.

Through the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), the international regulatory community has developed a series of template scenarios that incorporate both transition and physical risks. These scenarios are being used by regulators and financial institutions worldwide to assess climate-related risks. One scenario specifies a “hothouse world” where temperatures rise significantly, resulting in severe …

A common criticism of bank mergers is that they lead to a disproportionate number of branch closures and thereby diminish access to banking services, but a new BPI research note examines 40 years of data and shows this is false: branches are just as likely to be closed by banks that do not merge or …

Do bank mergers lead to a disproportionate number of branch closures and, in turn, expansion of so-called “banking deserts,” as some have claimed?  An objective examination of the facts demonstrates such claims to be false and, moreover, that branch closings in recent years have not caused consumers to be unbanked.[1] Fact number 1: Historically, mergers …

Stories Driving the Week The Basel Premium  U.S. companies could soon pay more for loans than their European peers depending on how the U.S. applies the latest round of Basel bank rule changes. This factsheet explains why details in the final revisions to the global bank regulatory standards could make loans cost more for U.S. businesses. A …