CHAPTER
7The Conventional Riba-Based
Banking System
The Banking System of the United States
The United States has developed themost sophisticated and highly dis-
persed banking network and system in the world. The American banking
system, when it was developed, benefited from the accumulated body of hu-
man experience over history, including many religious values, human expe-
riences, and documented and sophisticated solutions to problems faced
while developing the system in the United States and other systems in
Europe. The system was and continues to be built using the most capable
minds, accounting methods and standards, mathematical tools, and analy-
ses available in the world. It is a project in progress. We are reminded that it
would be embarrassing to write about the American banking and financial
system after what happened in 2008, when the system failed miserably. It is
believed that when the lessons learned from the worst crisis since the Great
Depression are applied and the system is modified, it will be better: well-
designed, well-positioned, and readyfor a better future, not only for the
United States, but for the rest of the world. History has shown that a coun-
try can have the most sophisticated system in the world, but if some people,
who are part and parcel of the system, do not respect it and instead in-
directly try to sabotage it by trying to get around the laws, that system is
doomed. The United States functioned well with its banking system when
Americans at all levels believed in it, respected it, and implemented it, and
when we Americans lived within our means.
This chapter covers the U.S. banking regulations, which are considered
the most sophisticated banking regulations ever developed in the history of
the world. These regulations areincluded in this book to underline two
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