The Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee is a group of publicly recognized, independent experts on the financial services industry (that is, banking, insurance, and securities). These experts from academia and the private sector meet regularly to study regulations and critique regulatory policies that affect this section of the economy. This briefing will highlight the new Basel capital proposal and the subdebt report of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, new securities deregulation legislation, the use of explicit guarantees by government-sponsored enterprises, and national charters for insurance companies.