October 6, 2003 News Archive

Board Releases June Foreign Bank Structure and Share Data
The Board recently published the quarterly report showing the assets of each foreign bank office in the United States. The report lists the offices by type, by country of the foreign bank "family" owning the office, and by Federal Reserve District and state.

Seventh District Mass Layoff Data Now Available
Starting with the second quarter of 2003, mass layoff data (PDF,73KB) for all of the Seventh District states will be provided on the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's public web site for use by District bankers and other interested parties. This data will provide bankers with an additional resource to accurately assess their credit risk. In the report, the mass layoff notices are combined with population data from the 2000 Census in order to identify the areas greatly impacted by these mass layoffs. A mass layoff is deemed significant if the number of affected workers is 1% or greater of the affected town or city's population. Notices will appear on a given quarter's report if either the notice or effective date is within the date range for that quarter.

According to the definition established by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a "mass layoff" occurs when at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance are filed against an establishment during a consecutive 5-week period. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) offers protection to workers, their families, and communities by requiring employers to provide notice at least 60 days in advance of mass layoffs. Employers file this information with the appropriate state agency.

In addition to the raw data, a graphical representation (PDF,59KB) identifying the locations of the significant mass layoff notices is provided. This provides a quick indicator of geographical concentrations of mass layoffs.

If you have any questions about the report or the map, please contact Loretta Kujawa at (312) 322-4411.

Senate Committee Advances Fair Credit Bill
The Senate Banking Committee passed the National Consumer Credit Reporting System Improvement Act of 2003, legislation that would extend permanently the expiring uniform fair credit standards and adopt a number of changes to help combat identity theft. The House passed its version of the legislation, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (H.R. 2622), earlier in September. The Senate bill also provides for the creation of a Financial Literacy and Education Commission to develop within one year "a national strategy to promote financial literacy and education among all Americans." The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration. Similar legislation, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, was approved by the House of Representatives on September 10.

SEC Releases Results of Hedge Funds Fact-Finding Investigation
In a recent press release, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued "The Implications of the Growth of Hedge Funds," a staff report that follows a fact-finding investigation into the operations and practices of the hedge fund industry.