Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Fed looks at traders' books

Wall Street executives said that regulators, led by the Federal Reserve, had been asking major banks in recent weeks to provide a detailed breakdown of their balance sheets, with particular attention to their trading books.

The authorities wanted to know what proportion of a bank's balance sheet was held in more liquid positions and how much was held in derivatives and other trading positions whose profitability might not be known for years, they added.

The nature of the behind-the-scenes request surprised some Wall Street executives until news broke last week that the Fed was planning to ask for new veto powers over traders' pay packages.

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