1) During the boom years of the 1920s, bank failures were quiteA) uncommon, averaging less than 30 per year.B) uncommon, averaging less than 100 per year.C) common, averaging about 600 per year.D) common, averaging about 2,000 per year. C) common, averaging about 600 per year. Don't use plagiarized sources. Get Your Custom Essay on
Banking crises and Financial deregulation
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2) When one party to a transaction has incentives to engage in activities detrimental to the other party, there exists a problem ofA) moral hazard.B) split incentives.C) ex ante shirking.D) precontractual opportunism. A) moral hazard. 3) Moral hazard is an important consequence of insurance arrangements because the existence of insuranceA) provides increased incentives for risk taking.B) impedes efficient risk taking.C) causes the private cost of the insured activity to increase.D) does both A and B of the above.E) does both B and C of the above A) provides increased incentives for risk taking. 4) The existence of deposit insurance can increase the likelihood that depositors will need deposit protection, as banks with deposit insuranceA) are likely to take on greater risks than they otherwise would.B) are likely to be too conservative, reducing the probability of turning a profit.C) are likely to regard deposits as an unattractive source of funds due to depositors’ demands for safety.D) are placed at a competitive disadvantage in acquiring funds. A) are likely to take on greater risks than they otherwise would. 5) Although the FDIC was created to prevent bank failures, its existence encourages banks toA) take too much risk.B) hold too much capital.C) open too many branches.D) buy too much stock. A) take too much risk. 6) When bad drivers line up to purchase collision insurance, automobile insurers are subject to theA) moral hazard problem.B) adverse selection problem.C) assigned risk problem.D) ill queue problem. B) adverse selection problem. 7) Deposit insuranceA) attracts risk-prone entrepreneurs to the banking industry.B) encourages bank managers to take on greater risks than they otherwise would.C) reduces the incentives of depositors to monitor the riskiness of their banks’ asset portfolios.D) does all of the above.E) does only A and B of the above. D) does all of the above. 8) The possibility that the failure of one bank can hasten the failure of other banks is called theA) bank run effect.B) moral hazard effect.C) contagion effect.D) adverse selection effect. C) contagion effect. 9) If the FDIC decides that a bank is too big to fail, it will use the ________ method, effectively ensuring that ________ depositors will suffer losses.A) payoff; largeB) payoff; noC) purchase and assumption; largeD) purchase and assumption; no D) purchase and assumption; no 10) If the FDIC uses the purchase and assumption method to handle a failed bank,A) all deposits will suffer losses.B) small deposits will be paid in full but deposits over the insurance limit will not.C) all deposits will be paid in full.D) none of the above will occur. C) all deposits will be paid in full. 11) One problem of the too-big-to-fail policy is that it ________ the incentives for ________ by big banks.A) reduces; moral hazard by big banksB) increases; moral hazard by big banksC) reduces; adverse selection by big banksD) increases; adverse selection by big banks B) increases; moral hazard by big banks 12) The result of the too-big-to-fail policy is that ________ banks will take on ________ risks, making bank failures more likely.A) small; fewerB) small; greaterC) large; fewerD) large; greater D) large; greater 13) The too-big-to-fail policyA) exacerbates moral hazard problems.B) puts large banks at a competitive disadvantage in attracting large deposits.C) treats large depositors of small banks inequitably when compared to depositors of large banks.D) does only A and C of the above. D) does only A and C of the above. 14) Which of the following solutions have been proposed to solve the too-big-to-fail problem?A) Break up large, systemically important financial institutions.B) Impose higher capital requirements on large, systemically important financial institutions.C) Do nothing, since Dodd-Frank effectively eliminated the problem.D) All of the above have been proposed. D) All of the above have been proposed. 15) Some view that Dodd-Frank eliminated the too-big-to-fail problem. How did it achieve this?A) By making it harder for the Federal Reserve to bail out financial institutionsB) By eliminating the Volcker ruleC) By reducing the regulation of SIFIsD) All of the above. A) By making it harder for the Federal Reserve to bail out financial institutions 16) The primary difference between the “payoff” and the “purchase and assumption” methods of handling failed banks is that the FDICA) guarantees all deposits, not just those under the $250,000 limit, when it uses the “payoff” method.B) guarantees all deposits, not just those under the $250,000 limit, when it uses the “purchase and assumption” method.C) is more likely to use the “payoff” method when the bank is large and it fears that depositor losses may spur business bankruptcies and other bank failures.D) does both A and B of the above.E) does both B and C of the above. B) guarantees all deposits, not just those under the $250,000 limit, when it uses the “purchase and assumption” method. 17) The primary difference between the “payoff” and the “purchase and assumption” methods of handling failed banks is that the FDICA) guarantees all deposits, not just those under the $250,000 limit, when it uses the “payoff” method.B) guarantees all deposits, not just those under the $250,000 limit, when it uses the “purchase and assumption” method.C) is less likely to use the “payoff” method when the bank is large and it fears that depositor losses may spur business bankruptcies and other bank failures.D) does both A and B of the above.E) does both B and C of the above. E) does both B and C of the above. 18) Regulators attempt to reduce the riskiness of banks’ asset portfolios byA) limiting the amount of loans in particular categories or to individual borrowers.B) prohibiting banks from holding risky assets such as common stocks.C) establishing a minimum interest rate floor that banks can earn on certain assets.D) doing all of the above.E) doing only A and B of the above. E) doing only A and B of the above. 19) One way for bank regulators to assure depositors that a bank is not taking on too much risk is to require the bank toA) diversify its loan portfolio.B) reduce its equity capital.C) reduce the size of its loan portfolio.D) do both A and B of the above.E) do both B and C of the above. A) diversify its loan portfolio. 20) Banks do not want to hold too much capital becauseA) they do not bear fully the costs of bank failures.B) higher returns on equity are earned when bank capital is smaller, all else equal.C) higher capital levels attract the scrutiny of regulators.D) all of the above.E) only A and B of the above. E) only A and B of the above. 21) When regulators engage in microprudential regulation, they focus on ________.A) the safety and soundness of individual financial institutionsB) the credit standards of individual loansC) the safety and soundness of each customer of a financial institutionD) the safety and soundness of each asset the financial institution holds A) the safety and soundness of individual financial institutions 22) When regulators engage in macroprudential regulation, they focus on ________.A) the safety and soundness of the entire financial institutionB) the credit standards of all loans held by the financial institutionC) the safety and soundness of the financial system in aggregateD) the safety and soundness of each liability of the financial institution C) the safety and soundness of the financial system in aggregate 23) The increased integration of financial markets across countries and the need to make the playing field equal for banks from different countries led to the Basel Accord agreement toA) standardize bank capital requirements internationally.B) reduce, across the board, bank capital requirements in all countries.C) sever the link between risk and capital requirements.D) do all of the above. A) standardize bank capital requirements internationally. 24) Under the Basel plan,A) assets and off-balance sheet activities are assigned to various categories to reflect the degree of credit risk.B) a bank’s total capital must equal or exceed 8 percent of total risk-weighted assets.C) both of the above occur.D) none of the above occur. C) both of the above occur. 25) Of the following assets, the one which has the highest capital requirement under the Basel Accord isA) municipal bonds.B) residential mortgages.C) commercial paper.D) securities issued by industrialized countries’ governments. C) commercial paper. 26) Which of the following is not true regarding the Basel 2 proposal to reform the original 1988 Basel Accord?A) It attempts to link capital requirements more closely to actual risk by expanding the number of risk categories.B) It focuses on assessing the quality of risk management in banking institutions.C) It attempts to improve market discipline by requiring increased disclosure of pertinent information about banks.D) It has been well received by banks and national regulatory agencies. D) It has been well received by banks and national regulatory agencies. 27) Ways in which bank regulations reduce the adverse selection and moral hazard problems in banking includeA) a chartering process designed to prevent crooks from getting control of a bank.B) restrictions that prevent banks from acquiring certain risky assets, such as common stocks.C) high bank capital requirements to increase the cost of bank failure to the owners.D) all of the above.E) only A and B of the above. D) all of the above. 28) The chartering process is especially designed to deal with the ________ problem, and regular bank examinations help to reduce the ________ problem.A) adverse selection; adverse selectionB) adverse selection; moral hazardC) moral hazard; adverse selectionD) moral hazard; moral hazard B) adverse selection; moral hazard 29) The chartering process is especially designed to deal with the ________ problem, and restrictions on asset holdings help to reduce the ________ problem.A) adverse selection; adverse selectionB) adverse selection; moral hazardC) moral hazard; adverse selectionD) moral hazard; moral hazard B) adverse selection; moral hazard 30) Regular bank examinations and restrictions on asset holdings indirectly help to reduce the ________ problem because, given fewer opportunities to take on risk, risk-prone entrepreneurs will be discouraged from entering the banking industry.A) moral hazardB) adverse selectionC) ex post shirkingD) post-contractual opportunism B) adverse selection 31) Regular bank examinations and restrictions on asset holdings indirectly help to ________ the adverse selection problem because, given fewer opportunities to take on risk, risk-prone entrepreneurs will be ________ from entering the banking industry.A) increase; encouragedB) increase; discouragedC) reduce; encouragedD) reduce; discouraged D) reduce; discouraged 32) The legislation that separated commercial banking from the securities industry is known as the ________.A) National Bank ActB) Federal Reserve ActC) Glass-Steagall ActD) McFadden Act C) Glass-Steagall Act 33) The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980A) approved NOW accounts nationwide.B) restricted the use of ATS accounts.C) imposed interest rate ceilings on bank loans.D) did all of the above. A) approved NOW accounts nationwide. 34) The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980A) approved NOW accounts nationwide.B) imposed uniform reserve requirements.C) mandated the phase out of interest-rate ceilings on deposits.D) did all of the above.E) did only A and B of the above. D) did all of the above. 35) As a way of stemming the decline in the number of savings and loans and mutual savings banks, the Garn-St. Germain Act of 1982 allowedA) money market certificates.B) money market mutual funds.C) money market deposit accounts.D) negotiable order of withdrawal accounts. C) money market deposit accounts. 36) An impact of the Garn-St. Germain Act of 1982 has been toA) put savings and loans at a competitive disadvantage.B) make the banking system more competitive.C) give money market mutual funds a competitive advantage.D) do both A and B of the above.E) do both A and C of the above. B) make the banking system more competitive. 37) Moral hazard and adverse selection problems increased in prominence in the 1980sA) as deregulation opened up more avenues for savings and loans and mutual savings banks to take on more risk.B) following a burst of financial innovation in the 1970s and early 1980s that produced new financial instruments and markets, thereby widening the scope for risk taking.C) following an increase in federal deposit insurance from $40,000 to $100,000.D) because of all of the above.E) because of only A and B of the above. D) because of all of the above. 38) Moral hazard and adverse selection problems increased in prominence in the 1980sA) as deregulation opened up more avenues for savings and loans and mutual savings banks to take on more risk.B) following a burst of financial innovation in the 1970s and early 1980s that produced new financial instruments and markets, thereby widening the scope for risk taking.C) following a decrease in federal deposit insurance from $100,000 to $40,000.D) because of all of the above.E) because of only A and B of the above. E) because of only A and B of the above. 39) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991A) increased the FDIC’s ability to borrow from the Treasury to deal with failed banks.B) reduced the scope of deposit insurance in several ways.C) eliminated governmentally administered deposit insurance.D) did only A and B of the above. D) did only A and B of the above. 40) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991A) reduced the scope of deposit insurance in several ways.B) eliminated restrictions on nationwide banking.C) allowed well-capitalized banks to do some securities underwriting.D) did only A and B of the above.E) did only A and C of the above. E) did only A and C of the above. 41) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991A) reduced the scope of deposit insurance in several ways.B) limited the FDIC’s ability to use the “too-big-to-fail” policy.C) requires the FDIC to intervene earlier when a bank gets into trouble.D) did all of the above. D) did all of the above. 42) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991A) instructed the FDIC to come up with risk-based deposit insurance premiums.B) expanded the FDIC’s ability to use the “too-big-to-fail” policy.C) instructed the FDIC to wait longer before intervening when a bank gets into trouble.D) did all of the above. A) instructed the FDIC to come up with risk-based deposit insurance premiums. 43) What is the primary argument for not giving depositors greater incentive to monitor financial institutions?A) Experts do not believe that depositors are capable of monitoring banks and imposing discipline on them.B) Banks could be subject to more frequent runs by nervous depositors.C) Both A and B are correct.D) Neither A nor B is correct. C) Both A and B are correct. 44) Which of the following is least likely to accompany financial consolidation and the development of large, complex banking organizations?A) More financial institutions will be considered too big to fail.B) The government safety net will be extended to include nonbanking activities.C) Moral hazard problems will become less important.D) Banks will have greater incentives and opportunities to take on more risk. C) Moral hazard problems will become less important. 45) What accounts for the problems facing China’s four largest banks?A) Large loans to inefficient, state-owned enterprisesB) Closing of unprofitable branches and laying off unproductive employeesC) Selling shares in the bank overseas to raise capitalD) All of the above A) Large loans to inefficient, state-owned enterprises 46) World Bank research on the effects of deposit insurance concludes thatA) adoption of deposit insurance will promote stability and efficiency in the banking systems of emerging-market economies.B) adoption of explicit government deposit insurance is associated with a higher incidence of banking crises.C) adoption of deposit insurance has the greatest benefits in countries that have weaker institutional environments.D) none of the above are true. B) adoption of explicit government deposit insurance is associated with a higher incidence of banking crises. 47) Just prior to the global financial crisis, mortgage loans known as NINJA loans were issued to borrowers. What is a NINJA loan?A) A loan issued by a Japanese bank, thus avoiding U.S. regulation.B) A loan document originated by a mortgage banker named Bruce Lee.C) A loan issued to borrowers with no income, employment, nor assets to speak of.D) A loan issued with a “martial arts” clause. C) A loan issued to borrowers with no income, employment, nor assets to speak of. 48) Which of the following categories is not part of the Dodd-Frank legislation of 2010?A) capital requirementsB) consumer protectionC) “Volcker Rule”D) derivatives A) capital requirements 49) In an effort to control the use of derivatives by financial institutions, the Dodd-Frank legislation of 2010 requires ________.A) standardized derivatives productsB) over-the-counter trading (instead of exchange trading) of derivatives productsC) an increase in counterparty riskD) all of the above A) standardized derivatives products 50) An SIV, or structured investment vehicle, is an off-balance-sheet entity that shields a sponsoring institution from risk. What happened to some of these SIVs when they ran into financial problems?A) The SIV sued the sponsoring institution to pay, in full, all liabilities of the SIV.B) The SIV still remained off-balance-sheet, but investors did sue sponsoring institutions.C) Nothing! The SIV status as off-balance-sheet remained, a nice example of a financial structure that worked during the financial crisis.D) Troubled SIVs became an asset of the sponsoring institution — the off-balance-sheet status was meaningless. D) Troubled SIVs became an asset of the sponsoring institution — the off-balance-sheet status was meaningless. 51) What role did the credit-rating agencies play leading up to the start of the financial crisis in 2007?A) Inaccurate ratings provided by credit-rating agencies helped promote risk taking throughout the financial system.B) The credit-rating agencies were the first to see signs of trouble, and they developed more stringent standards as the housing bubble evolved.C) Solid ratings provided by credit-rating agencies helped limit risk taking throughout the financial system.D) The credit-rating agencies were largely uninvolved with the financial crisis. A) Inaccurate ratings provided by credit-rating agencies helped promote risk taking throughout the financial system. 1) To understand banking regulation in the United States, it is helpful to understand the concepts of asymmetric information, adverse selection, and moral hazard. Answer: TRUE 2) Because asymmetric information problems in the banking industry are a fact of life throughout the world, bank regulation in other countries is similar to that in the United States. Answer: TRUE 3) The failure of one bank can hasten the failure of others in what is referred to as a contagion effect. Answer: TRUE 4) To be classified as a well-capitalized bank, a bank’s leverage ratio must exceed 8 percent. Answer: FALSE 5) Once a bank has been chartered, it is required to file periodic call reports that reveal the bank’s assets and liabilities, income, ownership, and other details. Answer: TRUE 6) “Truth in lending” was mandated under the Consumer Protection Act of 1969 and requires all lenders to reveal the annual percentage rate, or APR, on loans. Answer: TRUE 7) Probably the most important feature of FDICIA is its prompt corrective action provisions which require the FDIC to intervene earlier and more vigorously when a bank gets into trouble. Answer: TRUE 8) According to some economists, Congress made a mistake when it passed the FDICIA of not requiring the FDIC to assess risk-based insurance premiums. Answer: FALSE 9) The “too-big-to-fail” policy reduces the adverse selection problem in bank regulation. Answer: FALSE 10) A better capitalized bank has more to lose when it fails and is less likely to take less risk. Answer: TRUE 11) When the payoff method is used to resolve a failed bank, both large and small depositors are protected from suffering losses. Answer: FALSE 12) In the years just prior to the global financial crisis, mortgage loans were issued to borrowers with no income or employment. Answer: TRUE 13) The Dodd-Frank legislation of 2010 finally resolved the status of GSEs such as Freddie Mac. Answer: FALSE 14) Prior to the global financial crisis, inaccurate ratings provided by credit rating agencies helped promote risk taking throughout the financial system. Answer: TRUE 1) What do we learn about the causes of banking crises by comparing crises throughout the world to those that have occurred in the United States?Topic: Chapter 18.4 Banking Crises Throughout the World in Recent Years … 2) What is the asymmetric information problem and how does it contribute to our understanding of the structure of bank regulation in the United States and other countries?Topic: Chapter 18.1 Asymmetric Information and Financial Regulation … 3) Why did the United States experience a banking crisis in the 1980s?Topic: Chapter 18.2 The 1980s Savings and Loan Banking Crisis … 4) How has bank regulation in the United States changed since the late 1980s? What accounts for these changes?Topic: Chapter 18.3 FDIC Improvement Act of 1991 … 5) How have bank capital requirements changed since the banking crisis of the 1980s? Explain.Topic: Chapter 18.3 FDIC Improvement Act of 1991 … 6) Describe the CAMELS rating system used by bank examiners.Topic: Chapter 18.1 Asymmetric Information and Financial Regulation … 7) Why does the safety net created by deposit insurance increase the adverse selection and moral hazard problems in banking? How do bank regulations attempt to overcome these problems?Topic: Chapter 18.1 Asymmetric Information and Financial Regulation … 1 Depositors lack of information about the quality of bank assets can lead to A) bank panics. Answer: A 2 The fact that banks operate on a “sequential service constraint” means that A) all depositors share equally in the bank’s funds during a crisis. Answer: C 3 Depositors have a strong incentive to show up first to withdraw their funds during a bank crisis because banks operate on a A) last-in, first-out constraint. Answer: B 4 Because of asymmetric information, the failure of one bank can lead to runs on other banks. This is the A) too-big-to-fail effect. Answer: D 5 The contagion effect refers to the fact that A) deposit insurance has eliminated the problem of bank failures. Answer: D 6 During the boom years of the 1920s, bank failures were quite A) uncommon, averaging less than 30 per year. Answer: C 7 To prevent bank runs and the consequent bank failures, the United States established the ________ in 1934 to provide deposit insurance. A) FDIC Answer: A 8 The primary difference between the “payoff” and the “purchase and assumption” methods of handling failed banks is A) that the FDIC guarantees all deposits when it uses the “payoff” method. Answer: B 9 Deposit insurance has not worked well in countries with A) a weak institutional environment. Answer: A 10 When one party to a transaction has incentives to engage in activities detrimental to the other party, there exists a problem of A) moral hazard. Answer: A 11 Moral hazard is an important concern of insurance arrangements because the existence of insurance A) provides increased incentives for risk taking. Answer: A 12 When bad drivers line up to purchase collision insurance, automobile insurers are subject to the A) moral hazard problem. Answer: B 13 Deposit insurance is only one type of government safety net. All of the following are types of government support for troubled financial institutions EXCEPT A) forgiving tax debt. Answer: A 14 Although the FDIC was created to prevent bank failures, its existence encourages banks to A) take too much risk. Answer: A 15 A system of deposit insurance A) attracts risk-taking entrepreneurs into the banking industry. Answer: A 16 The government safety net creates ________ problem because risk-loving entrepreneurs might find banking an attractive industry. A) an adverse selection Answer: A 17 Since depositors, like any lender, only receive fixed payments while the bank keeps any surplus profits, they face the ________ problem that banks may take on too ________ risk. A) adverse selection; little Answer: D 18 Acquiring information on a bank’s activities in order to determine a bank’s risk is difficult for depositors and is another argument for government A) regulation. Answer: A 19 The existence of deposit insurance can increase the likelihood that depositors will need deposit protection, as banks with deposit insurance A) are likely to take on greater risks than they otherwise would. Answer: A 20 In May 1991, the FDIC announced that it would sell the government’s final 26% stake in Continental Illinois, ending government ownership of the bank that it had rescued in 1984. The FDIC took control of the bank, rather than liquidate it, because it believed that Continental Illinois A) was a good investment opportunity for the government. Answer: C 21 If the FDIC decides that a bank is too big to fail, it will use the ________ method, effectively ensuring that ________ depositors will suffer losses. A) payoff; large Answer: D 22 Federal deposit insurance covers deposits up to $250,000, but as part of a doctrine called “too-big-to-fail” the FDIC sometimes ends up covering all deposits to avoid disrupting the financial system. When the FDIC does this, it uses the A) “payoff” method. Answer: B 23 The result of the too-big-to-fail policy is that ________ banks will take on ________ risks, making bank failures more likely. A) small; fewer Answer: D 24 A problem with the too-big-to-fail policy is that it ________ the incentives for ________ by big banks. A) increases; moral hazard Answer: A 25 The too-big-to-fail policy A) reduces moral hazard problems. Answer: C 26 The government safety net creates both an adverse selection problem and a moral hazard problem. Explain. Answer: The adverse selection problem occurs because risk-loving individuals might view the banking system as a wonderful opportunity to use other peoples’ funds knowing that those funds are protected. The moral hazard problem comes about because depositors will not impose discipline on the banks since their funds are protected and the banks knowing this will be tempted to take on more risk than they would otherwise. 27 Regulators attempt to reduce the riskiness of banks’ asset portfolios by A) limiting the amount of loans in particular categories or to individual borrowers. Answer: A 28 A well-capitalized financial institution has ________ to lose if it fails and thus is ________ likely to pursue risky activities. A) more; more Answer: B 29 A bank failure is less likely to occur when A) a bank holds less U.S. government securities. Answer: D 30 The leverage ratio is the ratio of a bank’s A) assets divided by its liabilities. Answer: C 31 To be considered well capitalized, a bank’s leverage ratio must exceed A) 10%. Answer: C 32 The FDIC must take steps to close down banks whose equity capital is less than ________ of assets. A) 4% Answer: C 33 Off-balance-sheet activities A) generate fee income with no increase in risk. Answer: C 34 The Basel Accord, an international agreement, requires banks to hold capital based on A) risk-weighted assets. Answer: A 35 The Basel Accord requires banks to hold as capital an amount that is at least ________ of their risk-weighted assets. A) 10% Answer: B 36 Under the Basel Accord, assets and off-balance sheet activities were sorted according to ________ categories with each category assigned a different weight to reflect the amount of ________. A) 2; adverse selection Answer: D 37 The practice of keeping high-risk assets on a bank’s books while removing low-risk assets with the same capital requirement is known as A) competition in laxity. Answer: C 38 Banks engage in regulatory arbitrage by A) keeping high-risk assets on their books while removing low-risk assets with the same capital requirement. Answer: A 39 Because banks engage in regulatory arbitrage, the Basel Accord on risk-based capital requirements may result in A) reduced risk taking by banks. Answer: D 40 One of the criticisms of Basel 2 is that it is procyclical. That means that A) banks may be required to hold more capital during times when capital is short. Answer: A 41 Overseeing who operates banks and how they are operated is called A) prudential supervision. Answer: A 42 The chartering process is especially designed to deal with the ________ problem, and regular bank examinations help to reduce the ________ problem. A) adverse selection; adverse selection Answer: B 43 The chartering process is similar to ________ potential borrowers and the restriction of risk assets by regulators is similar to ________ in private financial markets. A) screening; restrictive covenants Answer: A 44 Banks will be examined at least once a year and given a CAMELS rating by examiners. The L stands for A) liabilities. Answer: B 45 The federal agencies that examine banks include A) the Federal Reserve System. Answer: A 46 Banks are required to file ________ usually quarterly that list information on the bank’s assets and liabilities, income and dividends, and so forth. A) call reports Answer: A 47 Regular bank examinations and restrictions on asset holdings help to indirectly reduce the ________ problem because, given fewer opportunities to take on risk, risk-prone entrepreneurs will be discouraged from entering the banking industry. A) moral hazard Answer: B 48 The current supervisory practice toward risk management A) focuses on the quality of a bank’s balance sheet. Answer: C 49 Regulations designed to provide information to the marketplace so that investors can make informed decisions are called A) disclosure requirements. Answer: A 50 With ________, firms value assets on their balance sheet at what they would sell for in the market. A) mark-to-market accounting Answer: A 51 During times of financial crisis, mark-to-market accounting A) requires that a financial firms’ assets be marked down in value which can worsen the lending crisis. Answer: A 52 Consumer protection legislation includes legislation to A) reduce discrimination in credit markets. Answer: A 53 An important factor in producing the global financial crisis was A) lax consumer protection regulation. Answer: A 54 Competition between banks A) encourages greater risk taking. Answer: A 55 Regulations that reduced competition between banks included A) branching restrictions. Answer: A 56 The ________ that required separation of commercial and investment banking was repealed in 1999. A) the Federal Reserve Act. Answer: B 57 Which of the following is NOT a reason financial regulation and supervision is difficult in real life? A) Financial institutions have strong incentives to avoid existing regulations. Answer: D 58 Who has regulatory responsibility when a bank operates branches in many countries? A) It is not always clear. Answer: A 59 The collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, BCCI, showed the difficulty of international banking regulation. BCCI operated in more than ________ countries and was supervised by the small country of ________. A) 70, Luxembourg Answer: A 60 Agreements such as the ________ are attempts to standardize international banking regulations. A) Basel Accord Answer: A 61 The Basel Committee ruled that regulators in other countries can ________ the operations of a foreign bank if they believe that it lacks effective oversight. A) restrict Answer: A 62 In the ten year period 1981-1990, 1202 commercial banks were closed, with a peak of 206 failures in 1989. This rate of failures was approximately ________ times greater than that in the period from 1934 to 1980. A) two Answer: D 63 Moral hazard and adverse selection problems increased in prominence in the 1980s A) as deregulation required savings and loans and mutual savings banks to be more cautious. Answer: B 64 During the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, traditional bank profitability declined because of A) financial innovation that increased competition from new financial institutions. Answer: A 65 The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 A) separated investment banks and commercial banks. Answer: D 66 Prior to the 1980s, S&Ls and mutual savings banks were restricted almost entirely to A) commercial real estate loans. Answer: B 67 One of the problems experienced by the savings and loan industry during the 1980s was A) managers lack of expertise to manage risk in new lines of business. Answer: A 68 In the early stages of the 1980s banking crisis, financial institutions were especially harmed by A) declining interest rates from late 1979 until 1981. Answer: B 69 When regulators chose to allow insolvent S&Ls to continue to operate rather than to close them, they were pursuing a policy of A) regulatory forbearance. Answer: A 70 Savings and loan regulators allowed S&Ls to include in their capital calculations a high value for intangible capital called A) goodwill. Answer: A 71 Reasons regulators chose to follow regulatory forbearance rather than to close the insolvent S&Ls include all of the following EXCEPT A) they had insufficient funds to close all of the insolvent S&Ls. Answer: D 72 The policy of ________ exacerbated ________ problems as savings and loans took on increasingly huge levels of risk on the slim chance of returning to solvency. A) regulatory forbearance; moral hazard Answer: A 73 Regulatory forbearance A) meant delaying the closing of “zombie S&Ls” as their losses mounted during the 1980s. Answer: A 74 The major provisions of the Competitive Equality Banking Act of 1987 include A) expanding the responsibilities of the FDIC, which is now the sole administrator of the federal deposit insurance system. Answer: C 75 The S&L Crisis can be analyzed as a principal-agent problem. The agents in this case, the ________, did not have the same incentive to minimize cost to the economy as the principals, the ________. A) politicians/regulators; taxpayers Answer: A 76 “Bureaucratic gambling” refers to A) the strategy of thrift managers that they would not be audited by thrift regulators in the 1980s due to the relatively weak bureaucratic power of thrift regulators. Answer: C 77 That several hundred S&Ls were not even examined once in the period January 1984 through June 1986 can be explained by A) Congress’s unwillingness to allocate the necessary funds to thrift regulators. Answer: A 78 The bailout of the savings and loan industry was much delayed and, therefore, much more costly to taxpayers because A) of regulators’ initial attempts to downplay the seriousness of problems within the thrift industry. Answer: A 79 An analysis of the political economy of the savings and loan crisis helps one to understand A) why politicians aided the efforts of thrift regulators, raising regulatory appropriations and encouraging closing of insolvent thrifts. Answer: C 80 Taxpayers were served poorly by thrift regulators in the 1980s. This poor performance cannot be explained by A) regulators’ desire to escape blame for poor performance, leading to a perverse strategy of “bureaucratic gambling.” Answer: C 81 The Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the FSLIC, both of which failed in their regulatory tasks, were abolished by the A) Competitive Equality Banking Act of 1987. Answer: B 82 The Resolution Trust Corporation was created by the FIRREA in order to A) manage and resolve insolvent S&Ls. Answer: A 83 FIRREA increased the core-capital leverage requirement for thrift institutions from 3% to A) 8%. Answer: A 84 The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 A) increased the FDIC’s ability to borrow from the Treasury to deal with failed banks. Answer: A 85 The ability to use the too-big-to-fail policy was curtailed by the passage of the FDICIA. To use this action today, the FDIC must get approval of a two-thirds majority of both the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the directors of the FDIC and also the approval of the A) Secretary of the Treasury. Answer: A 86 The directive of prompt corrective action means that A) the FDIC will intervene earlier and more vigorously when a bank gets into trouble. Answer: A 87 FDICIA ________ incentives for banks to hold capital and ________ incentives to take on excessive risk. A) increased; decreased Answer: A 88 How did the increase in the interest rates in the early 80s contribute to the S&L crisis? Answer: The S&Ls suffered from an interest-rate risk problem. They had many fixed-rate mortgages with low interest rates. As interest rates in the economy began to climb, S&Ls began to lose profitability. Because of deregulation and financial innovation, it became possible for the S&Ls to undertake more risky ventures to try to regain their profitability. Many of them lacked expertise in judging credit risk in the new loan areas resulting in large losses. 89 The evidence from banking crises in other countries indicates that A) deposit insurance is to blame in each country. Answer: D 90 All of the following are common to banking crises in different countries EXCEPT A) financial liberalization or innovation. Answer: D 91 A common element in all of the banking crisis episodes in different countries is A) the existence of a government safety net. Answer: A 92 As in the United States, an important factor in the banking crises in Norway, Sweden, and Finland was the A) financial liberalization that occurred in the 1980s. Answer: A 93 As in the United States, an important factor in the banking crises in Latin America was the A) financial liberalization that occurred in the 1980s. Answer: A 94 The Argentine banking crisis of 2001 resulted from Argentina’s banks being required to A) purchase large amounts of government debt. Answer: A 95 When comparing the banking crisis in the United States to the crises in Latin America, cost to the taxpayers of the government bailouts was A) higher in Latin American than in the United States. Answer: A 96 The Japanese banking system went through a cycle of ________ in the 1990s similar to the one that occurred in the U.S. in the 1980s. A) regulatory forbearance Answer: A 97 China is trying to move its banking system from being strictly ________ owned by having them issue shares overseas. A) state Answer: A 98 Banking crises have occurred throughout the world. What similarities do we find when we look at the different countries? Answer: Financial deregulation with inadequate supervision can lead to increased moral hazard as banks take on more risk. Although deposit insurance was not necessarily a major factor in every country’s bank crisis, there was always some kind of government safety net. The presence of the government safety net also leads to increased risk-taking from the banks. |