In Brief: Study Planned on Relevance of Banking Regs

WASHINGTON - Responding to concerns that unregulated nonbanks are stealing business, the Bank Administrative Institute has commissioned a study of whether the current banking rules are relevant in an increasingly competitive business environment.

"This research project will identify ways to ensure that balanced regulatory policies, designed to promote safety and soundness, will not place banks at a competitive disadvantage in relation to their emerging new bank competitors," said William S. Haraf, senior vice president at Bank of America and chairman of the institute's regulatory affairs counsel.

The study will examine the effect nonbanks have on competition, and the impact regulations have on the ability of banks to compete with these rivals. It will recommend short-term and long-term steps for regulators and lawmakers to take to achieve parity between banks and nonbanks.

The study, being conducted by McKinsey & Co., should be ready in the first quarter of 1996.

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