One of the trends most likely to affect the card industry in 2009 is the prospect of additional regulation. In fact, given the magnitude of the U.S. economic meltdown and credit crisis, many observers expect that a financial institutions regulatory reform bill bill—which will likely include reforms aimed squarely at the card industry—will be proposed this year.
In general, 2008 was a year to remember—or perhaps forget—for the U.S. economy and, specifically, the financial services industry. The failure of Lehman Brothers, the bailout of iconic financial institutions such as AIG, and the succeeding liquidity injections from the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve—events that would have been difficult to imagine just a few months before—all occurred in rapid succession, marking what is most likely the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
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