Business descriptions
• Provide background information about the company. The discussion should address, at the minimum, company headquarter location; a financial or bank holding company; is Federal- or State-chartered (banking unit); has membership at the (1) Federal Reserve System and (2) Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC); company's fiscal year end date
• Is this company on Fed's list of systemically important financial institution (SIR)? You should be able to find that information from 2014 10k report
Reportable business segments of the company
• List and describe reportable business segments in fiscal years 2010 and 2014
• Report in a table respective % breakdown of (1) total assets and (2) net income from all reportable business segments for '09, '10 (from 2010 10K) '13, and '14 (from 2014 10K)
• Relate what you observe in the table (% breakdown) to discussions in 10K pertaining to the various business segments
• Find out if the company went through business restructure (such as merger, acquisition, spinoff, or sell of business) since '08? Briefly describe, if any, these activities? Which part of the business has experienced growth in recent years? And which part of the business is in decline?
• Discuss competitions each business segments faces. Which part of the business has witnessed increasing competitions? What were company management's comments on competitions? How has competitions impacted profitability? You should be able to find relevant discussions in 2014 10k report
Supervision and regulations
• Summarize regulatory and supervisory environment as discussed in 2014 10K report. Who are the key regulatory bodies of the parent company? And the company's banking unit?
Review discussions in 10K pertaining to Dodd Frank Act of 2010 and Volcker Rule. What changes (strategies, reorganization, restructure, etc.) the company might have made in response to Dodd Frank and Volker Rule? Give a few examples and briefly discuss
Interest rate environment
• Relate your discussions to what you read in 10K and other sources (including minutes and statements of FOMC's February and March 2015 meetings)
• What has been the interest rate environment (high, low interest rates?) in the US since the '08 financial crisis? What were some of the changes (strategies, reorganization, restructure, etc.) the company might have made since the financial crisis in response to the interest rate environment?
• Based on FOMC's minutes and recent comments by Fed officials, do you expect the Fed to raise target fed fund rate in the coming months? Briefly discuss.
Composition of Assets and Liabilities/Equity
• Based on the consolidated balance sheet reported in '10 (two years, '09 and '10) and '14 (two years, '13 and '14) 10K, prepare a table displaying % makeup of total asset. Your table should have the following columns: asset type, 09$, 09%, 10$, 10%, 13$, 13%, 14$, and 14%
• Likewise, prepare another table displaying % makeup of debt/ equity. You table should have these columns: debt/equity type, 09$, 09%, 10$, 10%, 13$, 13%, 14$, and 14%
• Relate what you observe in the two tables to discussions in 10K
• What was the respective largest asset type for each of the four fiscal years observed? Were there significant shifts in relative weight from '09 to '14? How did management explain these changes? Relate your observations to events (including regulatory changes) took place during and post the financial crisis?
• Likewise, what was the respective largest debt/ equity type for each of the four fiscal year observed? Were there significant changes in relative weight from '09 to '14? How did management explain these changes? Relate your observations to events (including regulatory changes) took place during and post the financial crisis?
• Locate Fed funds, and Reverse Repo on asset section of the balance sheet. Were there significant changes from '09 to '14 in the use of Fed funds and/or Repos? How did management explain the changes? Relate your observations to events (including Federal Reserve Policies and interest rates) took place during and post the financial crisis