BankThink

Online alternative financing can be an efficient source of capital for small businesses, but it can also be predatory, especially to unaware and inexperienced borrowers.

Wall Street Journal

Another mortgage bill comes due: More homeowners are missing payments on the home equity lines of credit they took out 10 years ago as the lines reset to include principal payments, not just interest. That can lead to a huge payment shock totaling hundreds of dollars a month for which many homeowners find they aren't prepared. The 30-day delinquency rate on Heloc balances that were originated in early 2006 jumped to 4.4% from...

Those wanting to break up banks act as though policymakers had no regulatory response to the crisis, but hereÂ's an illustration of how actual reforms would have prevented a large failure.

Wall Street Journal

Conflict or no conflict?: Heather Russell, the former general counsel at Fifth Third Bancorp, said she was fired after less than a year at the bank following her disclosure of a romantic relationship with Timothy Mayopoulos, Fannie Mae's chief executive officer. When she was let go last month, the bank said it was based on "a personal matter" that represented "a conflict of interest." Russell, told the Wall Street Journal she "never had...

The emergence of lenders that have no real connection to a geographic area prompts questions over how the Community Reinvestment Act's "good neighbor" policy can continue.