No references needed for the answers. Short answers and high-school level of writing.

#1

Greg Quinn

Bloomberg News

December 11, 2014

Global banks will reduce the financing they offer to companies as tougher regulations take hold, which may slow economic growth if new competitors don’t emerge, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said.

New rules are “absolutely essential” to prevent another crisis like the one that began in 2008, Poloz said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York. The rules have led global banks to sell $700 billion of assets and operations since 2007, implying that “gaps” in financing will appear, he said.

“These areas of retreat by banks could look like good opportunities for other financial intermediaries,” Poloz said. “But it would be surprising if the net effect were not to reduce the availability of credit.”

New and small businesses are most likely to suffer from reduced credit, along with trade finance and infrastructure projects, Poloz said. Innovation may help offset the impact, with new funding coming from increased corporate bond sales, securitization markets and public-private partnerships, Poloz said.

Regulators must also ensure new rules don’t stifle financial innovation, Poloz said, adding “Thankfully, the balance between regulation and innovation is dynamic, not static—competitive forces ensure this.”

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Bank of Canada Governor Poloz states that “absolutely essential” new banking regulations will result in “reduced credit” and presumably hurt the global economy. Do you agree with him? Would changes in regulations result in a net negative impact on the economy? Or, might they have a net positive impact on the economy? Why?

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#2

Robin Harding

Financial Times

July 10, 2014

The US Federal Reserve is exploring an overhaul of the Federal funds rate—a benchmark that underlies almost every financial transaction in the world—as it prepares for an eventual rise in interest rates.

The Fed funds rate is the main measure of overnight US interest rates and is based on the actual rates reported by brokers for overnight loans between US banks.

According to people familiar with the discussion, the Fed could redefine its main target rate so that it takes into account a wider range of loans between banks, making it more stable and reliable….

In particular, the Fed is looking at redefining the funds rate to include Eurodollar transactions—dollar loans between banks outside the US markets—as well as traditional onshore loans between US banks.

Other closely related rates that it could include are those on transactions for bank commercial paper and wholesale (negotiable) certificates of deposit between banks….

In recent months, the Fed has started collecting detailed short-term borrowing data from banks on a form called FR2420.

That data could form the basis of a redefined Federal funds rate….

Ira Jersey, director of interest rate strategy at Credit Suisse in New York, said Eurodollars were a very close substitute for Fed funds….

Mr. Jersey said he thought including Eurodollars would be unlikely to change the Fed funds rate much right now but the effect when interest rates were higher was hard to judge.

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The article discusses how financial data surrounding money markets might change in the future, specifically, how what we call today the “federal funds rate” may change to include other money market instruments. How might this change be beneficial to financial markets? How might this change be disruptive to financial markets?