In addition, banks continue to be capitalized above the BIS standard and BSP  BIS Review 1/2009  1  regulatory requirement; bank balance sheets are at their strongest since the 1997 Asian financial crisis; and assets continue to grow. What do we foresee for 2009? 2009 will be a critical year. It could define how we will perform when the markets turn around.
As I noted in the beginning of my remarks, the Fed has taken extraordinary monetary policy actions, keeping the federal funds rate near zero for nearly six years and expanding its balance sheet to more than $ trillion.