Questions tagged [banking]

Questions about political interactions with banks and payment service providers. For questions about central banks, please use the [central-bank] tag instead.

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Has any government published a cost benefit analysis on KYC regulations in terms of frequency of data loss?

Most countries require people to provide a significant amount of personal data to providers of financial services before you are able to make use of them. This is know as Know Your Customer (KYC) ...
User65535's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
95 views

UK budget and the financial services industry

A few days ago the BBC reported https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66897881 on the disastrous mini budget of the Kwarteng/Truss era, and included this: Economically, the UK has long enjoyed a ...
Mark Morgan Lloyd's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
609 views

What exactly was Russia supposed to get as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative?

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, was brokered in July of 2022 by Turkey (and the UN?), and involved Russia, Ukraine and other world states. Russia has recently (July 2023) allowed the deal to expire ...
einpoklum's user avatar
  • 7,568
10 votes
3 answers
465 views

Can governments avoid being trapped between the choice to let a big bank fail or increase banking concentration?

The too big to fail situation in the banking system has been criticised multiple times, but banking concentration in the US and Europe is still rising. The problem is not only the systemic risk, but ...
FluidCode's user avatar
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15 votes
3 answers
4k views

Why didn't Silicon Valley Bank ask for a loan from the Fed as the lender of last resort?

Why didn't Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) ask for a loan from the Federal Reserve as the lender of last resort? Why did they, in order to give customers cash for withdrawals from deposit accounts, sell ...
Espinosa's user avatar
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34 votes
5 answers
6k views

Was Silicon Valley Bank's failure due to "Trump-era deregulation", and/or do Democrats share blame for it?

In CNN's March 13 2023 State of the Union clip Expert advises all depositors to get their money out of collapsed bank after 05:58, CNN's Kaitlan Collins introduces US Senator Elizabeth Warren's tweet: ...
uhoh's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
4k views

Why is the ongoing auction for Silicon Valley Bank started held privately (vs. publicly)?

I read on Regulators Hold Auction for Silicon Valley Bank (The Wall Street Journal): Treasury officials confirmed the auction to lawmakers and staff on a call Sunday afternoon, according to people ...
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
3k views

Does the Federal Reserve insure the money of all depositors?

Banking institutions in the United States are required to hold reserves‍—‌amounts of currency and deposits in other banks‍—‌equal to only a fraction of the amount of the bank's deposit liabilities ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
113 views

Does the U.S. administration welcome the use of alternative financial system to the SWIFT?

SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is a global payments system that is used internationally to inter-connect banks and for the execution of financial transactions ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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21 votes
3 answers
4k views

To what extent does China need the SWIFT system?

To what extent does China need the SWIFT system? Some commentators have said that the U.S. might be considering banning China from the SWIFT system were they to support Russia with military aid. My ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
176 views

Bank and state cooperation in green transition: What is the political nature of this alliance?

Are there any political scientists addressing the relationship between banks and states in the era of climate change? I know this is a broad topic and I would assume I could easily find research ...
Jesper for President's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
379 views

Why is confidence in U.S. banking at 27%?

"Gallup first measured confidence in institutions in 1973 and has done so annually since 1993. This year's survey was conducted June 1-20.": "Now I am going to read you a list of ...
Nick Carducci for Carface Bank's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
1k views

Has China's deposit insurance been used to pay claims since adoption (seemingly in 2015)?

I've read this CNN article on protests against Chinese banks "freezing" their customers' deposits for months (and watched the video inside too), but there's no mention of any deposit ...
Fizz's user avatar
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30 votes
3 answers
9k views

Has Russia actually defaulted on its foreign debt as of April 11, 2022?

An article from CNN starts out by stating that Russia "has defaulted on its foreign debt", but then appears to qualify the statement by observing that "Moscow has a grace period of 30 ...
Robert Columbia's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
630 views

Who is in control of SWIFT sanctions?

After the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine in 2022, several Russian banks were banned from using SWIFT. According to Wikipedia, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (...
gerrit's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
204 views

Are Goldman and JPMorgan breaking the rules of current sanctions by buying Russia's cheap corporate debt?

I just saw in Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-03/wall-street-is-already-pouncing-on-russia-s-cheap-corporate-debt that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. ...
No One's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
310 views

How did Iran mitigate the effect of the SWIFT sanctions on them?

It seems to me although Iran faced hash sanctions with SWIFT ban in 2012 and again in 2018, their GDP took a hit and dropped for two years and but rebounded again (even through Covid). From the chart ...
No One's user avatar
  • 4,302
5 votes
1 answer
332 views

Does the fact that Japan have decided to join the US and European countries in removing selected Russian banks from SWIFT have any practical effect?

I read on https://www.foxnews.com/world/japan-us-european-allies-blocking-russian-banks-swift (mirror): Japan has decided to join the United States and European allies in removing selected Russian ...
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
30 votes
7 answers
8k views

What's the point of banning a few 'selected Russian banks' from SWIFT?

I read that several Russian banks got banned from SWIFT (mirror) following the ongoing 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. What's the point of banning a few selected Russian banks from SWIFT? I would ...
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Has any country besides Iran been banned from SWIFT?

As there are some ongoing discussions about a potential ban of Russia from SWIFT, I wonder whether any country besides Iran has been banned from SWIFT.
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
13 votes
4 answers
970 views

Why is the EU so reluctant to cut Russia off the SWIFT system as part of the new sanctions to be put in place after invading Ukraine?

This Reuters article argues that it is unlikely for the EU to include cutting Russia off the SWIFT system. One of the most important reasons seems to be the financial impact on the EU lenders: Data ...
Alexei's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
750 views

Gazprom: Conflict of interest between US, Russia and US banks? [closed]

I would like to understand the Ukraine/US/Russia/North Stream 2 conflict and I started to wonder about the impact (or side effects) of US sanctions, since I read about the shareholder structure of ...
kungfooman's user avatar
  • 1,003
4 votes
3 answers
581 views

Why did the U.S. bail out the banks instead of the people owing the mortgage payments?

Why did the U.S. bail out the banks instead of the people owing the mortgage payments? Is it because it would have cost more money to bail out the people, or is it for some other political reasons? ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
608 views

How many financial centres are to be created in the EU?

In the The Financial Times article UBS chairman Axel Weber assesed that the division of Europe is a massive benefit to the City of London because if Europe were united the impact ... of Brexit would ...
krenkz's user avatar
  • 491
27 votes
7 answers
5k views

Has any government throughout history banned foreign currencies?

Has any government throughout history banned foreign currencies? It happened in Zimbabwe in 2019 for example. How about other countries? I'm also interested in broader answers, like governments ...
Kijit's user avatar
  • 381
28 votes
2 answers
7k views

Why are Amex fees allowed in the European Union?

As I was reading this answer on Travel SE, and more specifically this part: In one hotel in London I had to pay 3% extra for using Amex instead of Visa/MC. I started reading some more about this ...
Anemoia's user avatar
  • 401
8 votes
1 answer
679 views

Brexit, EU tax evasion regulation, and the City of London

Articles (such as this one published by Foreign Policy and this one by BBC) and documentaries (such as 2017 film "The Spider's Web" described here) detail the history and extent of Britain’s "Empire ...
Dee's user avatar
  • 197
3 votes
1 answer
212 views

How does INSTEX work, and why won't it work?

After the US withdrew from the JCPOA, it threatened criminal and/or financial action against entities which trade with Iran (with some limited exemptions). This made the SWIFT society drop Iranian ...
einpoklum's user avatar
  • 7,568
34 votes
8 answers
10k views

How do governments keep track of their issued currency?

If a government issues currency and it ends up in bank accounts abroad, what stops banks from making a 'mistake' during a transfer, accidentally duplicating the currency? Is there some central ...
Oliver Mattos's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
303 views

Why do contactless payments without pin code seem to be regulated at national level rather than at bank / customer level?

I have recently checked if I am able to change my contactless without pin limit and realized that this is not an option. So I quickly checked for other countries and it seems to be set by national ...
Alexei's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
3k views

What does "breaking up" a company mean?

Oversimplify it for me, what does "breaking up" a company mean when used commonly among politicians? What would a broken up wells fargo look like? Google? Is there historical legislation doing this, ...
spmoose's user avatar
  • 4,351
1 vote
0 answers
58 views

What is the rationale of capping interbanking rates to values significantly lower than inflation rate?

Romania’s finance ministry announced some sort of "tax on greed" for banking sector: Romania’s finance ministry plans to introduce a tax on banking assets from 2019, seeking to cap the interbank ...
Alexei's user avatar
  • 52.6k
-4 votes
3 answers
300 views

Why are payment processors politically inserting themselves into Internet police-dom? [closed]

It seems that you can't go for more than a couple of weeks without hearing a politically-charged story of how payment processors are meddling with their clients business. Stripe, Paypal, Mastercard, ...
user24218's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
303 views

What was the largest case of fraud involving TARP money (financial crisis bailout funds)?

There were hundreds of convictions for misusing TARP money given as bailout after the 2008 financial crisis. The US government set up the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in October 2008 to buy ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 144k
2 votes
0 answers
63 views

How far up the banks' hierarchy did the LIBOR rigging convictions (and prosecutions) go?

It's been reported that a number of bank personnel were convicted for LIBOR rigging, although quite a few more were acquitted. Barclay's CEO and chairman both resigned following the scandal, but ...
Fizz's user avatar
  • 144k
12 votes
2 answers
2k views

How can Switzerland maintain a banking system which is almost unaccountable to the rest of the world?

The term "Money in the Swiss Banks" is used as a synonym to monetary corruption (black-money, money laundering, offshore wealth, and so on). Indian black money in Swiss banks $200bn of Pakistan in ...
user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
202 views

Are Prized Linked Savings Accounts legal in the United States?

So, there's a really interesting way to get people to save. It is called the Prize Linked Savings Account. The idea is fairly simple - to encourage savings, savings accounts are randomly awarded ...
Affable Geek's user avatar
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