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Journal Article
Securities trading and settlement in Europe: issues and outlook
The institutional arrangements for trading and settling securities in Europe remain fragmented along national lines, making cross-border trading costly. Consolidation efforts are under way, however, and major market centers have now emerged in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Although the restructuring of trading and settlement systems should bring the European Community closer to its goal of a single capital market, changes in corporate governance and the competitive environment may raise significant regulatory issues.
Journal Article
Paying electronic bill electronically
Electronic billing and payment systems are about to change the way many households pay their monthly bills. These systems are likely to increase consumer convenience and reduce billers' costs. Several factors, however, could slow down the widespread use of electronic billing and payments, including customer resistance to change, unequal access to technology, and consumer privacy concerns.
Journal Article
Bank branches in supermarkets
The largest U.S. commercial banks are restructuring their retail operations to reduce the cost disadvantage resulting from a stagnant deposit base and stiffer competition. As part of this effort, some banks are opening "supermarket," or "in-store," branches: a new type of banking office within a large retail outlet. An alternative to the traditional bank office, the supermarket branch enables banks to improve the efficiency of the branch network and offer greater convenience to customers.
Journal Article
Potential employment effects of the restructuring of retail banking
The author explains that two steps being taken by banks to restructure their branch systems--the substitution of supermarket branches for traditional offices and the expansion of telephone banking through twenty-four-hour phone centers--may adversely affect employment in New York State as well as across the country.
Journal Article
Banks' payments-driven revenues
Although many people believe that the payments area is a fairly minor business function within the banking sector, an increasing share of banks' revenue comes from fee services. To understand the full scope of the payments area, the author develops a broad definition of this business line and builds an estimate of payments-related earnings using recent data disclosed in bank holding company annual reports. Countering the view that payments contribute little to net revenue, the author finds that the payments area is one of the core activities of commercial banks. According to his estimates, ...
Journal Article
The expanding geographic reach of retail banking markets
In the view of most policymakers and economists, competition in retail banking takes place in local markets the size of a single county or metropolitan area. This article presents evidence that the locus of banking competition has in recent years shifted to larger geographic arenas. The author's review of 1997 survey data reveals that many banks set uniform rates for both deposits and retail loans across an entire state or broad regions of a large state. Regression analysis of the relationship between retail deposit rates and measures of market concentration further supports this expansion in ...
Journal Article
Financial transactions and the demand for M1
Journal Article
The monetary aggregates in 1985