as conservator or receiver for the institution, and establish a " bridge " institution to facilitate an orderly sale or liquidation of the firm. the authority to " bridge " a failing institution through a receivership to a new entity reduces the potential for market disruption while limiting moral hazard and mitigating any adverse impact of government intervention on market discipline. the new resolution regime would need to be carefully crafted. for example, clear guidelines must define which firms could be subject to the alternative regime and the process for invoking that regime, analogous perhaps to the procedures for invoking the so - called systemic risk exception under the fdia. in addition, given the global operations of many large and complex financial firms and the complex regulatory structures under which they operate, any new regime must be structured to work as seamlessly as possible with other domestic or foreign insolvency regimes that might apply to one or more parts of the consolidated organization. the federal reserve has issued enhanced guidance on consolidated supervision of bank and financial holding companies. see board of governors of the federal reserve system ( 2008 ), " federal reserve issues guidance for consolidated supervision of bank holding companies and combined u. s. operations of foreign banking organizations, " press release, october 16. such an approach would also help offset the incentives for financial firms to become too big to fail. strengthening the financial infrastructure the first element of my proposed reform agenda covers systemically important institutions considered individually. the second element focuses on interactions among firms as mediated by what i have called the financial infrastructure, or the financial plumbing if you will : the institutions that support trading, payments, clearing, and settlement. here the aim should be not only to help make the financial system as a whole better able to withstand future shocks, but also to mitigate moral hazard and the problem of too big to fail by reducing the range of circumstances in which systemic stability concerns might prompt government intervention. i'll give several examples. since september 2005, the federal reserve bank of new york has been leading a major joint initiative by the public and private sectors to improve arrangements for clearing and settling credit default swaps ( cds ) and other over - the - counter ( otc ) derivatives. as a result, the accuracy and timeliness of trade information has improved significantly. however, the infrastructure for managing these derivatives is still not as efficient or transparent as that for more mature instruments. the federal reserve bank of new york, in conjunction with other domestic and foreign supervisors, will continue to work toward establishing increasingly

jerome h powell : opening remarks opening remarks by mr jerome h powell, chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the gender and the economy conference, a symposium hosted by the division of consumer and community affairs, board of governors of the federal reserve system, washington, d. c., ( via webcast ), 8 november 2021. * * * good morning. i am pleased to welcome everyone to today ’ s conference on gender and the economy. thank you for being here, for participating, and for lending your expertise on this important topic. we have gathered an impressive lineup of speakers and panelists, who will address a range of timely and important issues. to open the conference, i will give a brief tour of the important research on display here, then discuss how the pandemic has affected the economy along gender lines. research the speakers and panelists will be exploring a wide range of topics, from a historical review of gender issues and the economy to how someone ’ s education options — and the financing of those choices — affect that person ’ s early career and financial stability. speakers and panelists will also be looking at the influence of family and caregiving on career advancement and will discuss timely topics of wealth and retirement. the pandemic and gender the pandemic widened deep - rooted inequities in our economy. along racial, gender, and socioeconomic lines, those least able to bear it, unfortunately, were those who were most affected. women make up the majority of frontline workers, who have been under substantial strain — and subject to personal risks — during the pandemic. additionally, women took on the majority of caring responsibilities, for older relatives and children alike. as schools closed and childcare services shuttered during the worst of the pandemic, that added responsibility and stress made working more difficult for some and took many away from their jobs. these burdens are real and have been an additional challenge during an already challenging time. in a reversal of previous recessions, women suffered more from job losses in the covid - 19 recession than men. in april 2020, the unemployment rate for women was 16. 1 percent, compared with 13. 6 percent for men. the gap persisted until september of that year, and while it has since reversed, it does not account for the many women who left the workforce entirely. 1 increased childcare responsibilities during the pandemic also affected many parents ’ working lives. mothers of small children