Securities Firms: Assessing the Need to Regulate Additional Financial Activities.
Abstract
The 1980s were an unprecedented period of profitability and growth in the securities industry. For example, total capital held by U.S. broker-dealers increased from about $10 billion in 1980 to about $49 billion in 1990. Finns doing securities business diversified domestically, increased activities in foreign markets, and in some cases were acquired by large nonfinancial conglomerates. Many of the financial activities of these firms are now done outside the traditional scope of federal and state regulation. The number of these activities is increasing, but little is known about their total size and scope or about the risks they pose to regulated entities and their customers, the financial system, or ultimately the federal government. GAO is concerned about the proliferation of unregulated financial activities and the potential effects on U.S. investors and the financial system. Thus, GAO examined the organization and regulatory structure for large U.S. firms that do securities business to identify whether regulatory gaps exist that might affect U.S. investors and the financial system. GAO also compared the regulation of these firms to the different regulatory approaches for bank holding companies and foreigu firms doing securities business to determine the applicability of these approaches to U.S. finns doing securities business. (KAR)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA290730
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office