Banking and Financial Institutions

This course will examine the regulation of financial institutions in the United States, with an emphasis on federal regulation of banking. Banks are a very important for two reasons. First, because they are a critical source of credit support for businesses, not-for-profit entities, governments and individuals. Second, because problems in the banking system can quickly metastasize into the larger economy, as happened in the 2008-09 financial crisis and again in early 2023 with the failure of Silvergate Bank, First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The course will cover the history of the U.S. banking industry; the basic rationales for regulation of banks; the process of forming and acquiring banks; geographic and activities restrictions on banks; safety and soundness safeguards; affiliations between banks and securities, insurance, and other firms; and bank failure and resolution. It will also cover the causes, effects and implications of the 2009 financial crisis, the reforms of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, and their failure to prevent the bank failures of 2023. The course will also cover the regulation of securities brokers, many of whose services compete with the services of banks, but who are regulated in a very different manner from banks by a different agency (the Securities and Exchange Commission) and under the provisions of different statutes. The objective of the course is to introduce the students in the class to the regulation and the structure of banks and securities brokers. Knowledge of the subject is useful to a lawyer advising clients on possible sources of funding, dealing with banks and securities brokers on behalf of a client, or representing a bank or security broker. For many business lawyers, having a bank as a client is very helpful for attracting other clients. It will also help students participate in discussions about the merits and disadvantages of regulatory approaches to the regulation of banks and securities brokers.