Our Department oversees the operations of state-regulated financial institutions. This includes 296 banks, around 360 credit unions, and 32 savings institutions. In addition there are thousands of securities broker-dealers and investment advisors that we oversee. And numerous different types of licensed financial services. I should mention that the United States has, what we call, a dual-regulatory structure.
Financial institutions have the option to be governed by either state or federal regulations.
The structure was developed through many years of struggle with exactly what the role the federal government of the United States should be in the regulation of banking. When the United States was first formed in 1776, each of the 13 colonies had separate banking systems and the federal government system created by our constitution in 1781 was not involved in banking whatsoever. After an attempt by the federal government to eliminate state banks failed, the dual-banking system, providing for institutions to be regulated by either the state or the federal government, has become the standard method of regulating all financial industries in the United States. This includes credit unions, savings banks and to some degree, the securities industry. DFI has only been a state agency for two years.