Conference organizers seek to bring together central bankers, market practitioners and academics. Results of the Federal Reserve's supplementary Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices are available online. The study of 54 large domestic banks and 24 U.S. branches of foreign banks was conducted to assess changes in lending conditions since the beginning of 2001. The focus is on changes in the supply of and demand for bank loans to businesses.
Agencies adopt guidelines for customer information security.
The federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies have sent joint guidelines to the Federal Register for safeguarding confidential consumer information. They outline security measures institutions should consider when implementing an information security program. A recent Fed study titled The Effects of Geographic Expansion on Bank Efficiency by Allen N. Berger and Robert DeYoung assesses the effects of geographic expansion on bank efficiency for over 7,000 U.S. banks. The results imply there may be no optimal geographic scope for banking organizations. Some may operate efficiently within a single region, while others may operate efficiently on a nationwide or international basis.