FDIC Top Pick Site Provides Educational Videos Accenting Municipal Securities Markets
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides educational and training materials on a wide variety of topics relating to banking and finance. Many of these are either closed to the public, and only for bank employees, and others still intended for an expert audience. However, the FDIC offers many materials intended for a wide audience, including a series of materials on personal banking and finance. What earns the FDIC top pick status however, is their video classes on Municipal Securities.
As part of their Technical Assistance Video Program, the FDIC includes a section on the Evaluation of Municipal Securities. This section is intended for an audience of employees of community banks, so some financial literacy is assumed. However, much of the information is digestible to the public, while information that is not can be self-taught through other resources. For example, in a section addressing the risk factors of different types of municipal securities, it is assumed that the viewer knows what a general obligation bond is. While this is a piece of information not known to the general public, it is well known within the municipal finance industry, and someone with a basic understanding of debt instruments would be able to look up and gain an understanding of the differences with available public information.
The FDIC provides training videos that can be viewed directly on their website or on YouTube, giving the viewer the option to access the content on a variety of platforms. Power Point presentations used in the training videos are also downloadable for note taking and future reference. There are five training modules:
- Overview & Industry Trends – General expectations and recent regulatory trends
- Investment Policies & Procedures – A deeper dive into regulatory expectations and policy best practices
- Basic Analysis – Basic methodologies for analysis including credit risk, interest rate risk, and liquidity risk
- Expanded Analysis – Credit analysis methods including economic and financial conditions, and fiscal responsibility
- Review & Additional Resources – Further resources for regulatory guidance
This Top Pick is most useful to people new to the municipal securities industry and people in finance who may not have experience in municipal markets. However, anyone working in a private, public, or nonprofit organization who wants a greater understanding of municipal finance can find value in these resources.
by Jeffrey L Garceau