Most people in the United States (and other developed nations) have rejected the Shakespearean maxim, "neither a borrower nor a lender be". Many people use loans to finance at least part of their education and job training during their youth, use mortgages to finance at least part of their home while starting a family, invest in stocks and bonds during middle age, and rely on the returns to the value of their stocks, bonds, and homes to at least partially pay for retirement during old age. Business firms, municipalities, and sovereign governments also rely on the financial system to help build the productive capital necessary for a well-functioning society and to foster economic growth. This book focuses on the U.S. financial regulatory policy for banking and securities markets and the U.S. implementation of the Basel Capital regulatory framework.