Economic Downturn and Restructuring in the U.S. Banking Sector: United States Report and Questionnaire

Abstract

The banking sector in the United States continues to work through major restructuring. This report hopes to outline and address some of the key changes with a focus on the years from 2000 to 2010. Special attention is paid to the structure and main features of industrial relations in the banking sector with a particular emphasis on the challenges of the present economic crisis. The banking sector in the United States is still recovering from the crisis and global recession. The banking and finance sector comprises about 8 percent of U.S. GDP. The banking workforce is only 1.4 percent unionized. Industrial Relations and collective bargaining has a small impact on the sector. The Dodd-Frank Act signed by President Barack Obama in July 2010 calls for regulatory reform to prevent future bailouts and consumer protections to taxpayers. As of November 13, 2010 there have been 146 bank failures in the United States in 2010. That is the highest number of failures since the savings and loan crisis of the 1980’s and 1990’s. The crisis in the banking sector is not over and the rules that will help prevent future crises are yet to be written.