Abstract

Free Banking Zones in the USA

On December 3 of this year, the decisions of the Federal Reserve Board will take effect, which will enable US banks to handle offshore business through IBFs (International Bank Facilities) in their own country. The object of these decisions is stricter control by the banking supervisory authority of Euromarket transactions. Compared to the national markets, the IBFs offer advantages on account of the lacking minimum reserve requirements and lower tax burden. There will be certain provisions to separate the IBFs from the national markets: loans are permissible only to nonresidents and other IBFs, deposits may be accepted only from non-residents; deposits of the parent institution are subject to minimum reserve requirements. Furthermore, the minimum deposit in US $ 500,000; there are no official, upper interest rate limits for deposits and loans; transactions in foreign currencies are permissible; the minimum notice for deposits is 2 days. The changing general conditions for national banking in the USA, however, make the competitive advantages of the Eurobanks and the IBFs dubious to some extent. Compared to the Euromarkets, the IBFs afford alternative investment and control possibilities to a limited extent, but on the other hand they cannot perform certain Euromarket functions. It is to be feared, therefore, that to a limited degree the IBFs will take Euromarket business “home” to the USA, but on the other hand result in hitherto national business being “exported to the Euromarket”, thus contributing to the absolute growth of the Euromarkets. Hence it is very questionable whether the IBFs will make an effective contribution to improving control of the Euromarkets.