BankThink

Morning Scan: BofA Libor Ruling Overturned; Swift Security

05/24/16

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Overturned: A $1.27 billion penalty against Bank of America was overturned Monday by a federal appeals court. A three-judge panel said federal prosecutors failed to prove Countrywide Financial, later acquired by B of A, had defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when it sold them troubled loans in 2007 and 2008. While it found Countrywide knew it was selling faulty loans there was a lack of evidence of intent to deceive at...

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Morning Scan: Banks Keep Branches; P2P Lending Not a Threat

05/23/16

Wall Street Journal

Enough with the big bank-small bank divide, says First National Bank of Dennison chairman and chief executive Blair Hillyer. Competition between differently sized banks is better for customer experience and better for business, he says. It's difficult when all banks are operating "with Washington as our co-CEO," but nevertheless it is important "to work together if we're going to remain relevant in this brave, new financial world." His comments came in a letter...

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Now Begins Marketplace Lending's Maturity Chapter

05/23/16

The nascent industry's early success will mean very little if these new companies don't take necessary steps to position themselves for the long term.

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Here's Where Jamie Dimon and I Disagree

05/20/16

I bear no hard feelings for the JPMorgan Chase CEO, but our disagreement underscores a rift between how Wall Street firms and community banks view the post-crisis landscape.

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How Tech Innovators Can Influence Their Own Regulatory Fate

05/20/16

Banks and nonbanks should accept that more fintech regulation is inevitable, but how far regulators go will depend in part on how well companies demonstrate they are managing risk.

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Banks Are at the Mercy of Regulatory Absolutism

05/20/16

Regulators have abused their role of implementing law to actually make financial policy, usurping the role of Congress in a tripartite system.

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Morning Scan: Lending Club's Morgan Stanley Ties; Credit Cards Soar

05/20/16

Wall Street Journal

As Columbia Law School professor Robert Jackson noted in an op-ed on Thursday, there needs to be a source of real competition for the credit-card pushers, namely online marketplace lenders, so consumers with below-average credit scores can have access to credit at somewhat reasonable rates.

Because there's clearly demand. Credit card balances in the U.S. could hit $1 trillion this year. That would be near the $1.02 trillion peak posted in July 2008. The...

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Women in Banking: B of A's "Bros Club;" Fed Diversity Push

05/20/16

A female executive sues Bank of America, accusing the company of being a "bros club" and paying her less than male colleagues; Democrats call on the overwhelmingly "white and male" Fed to prioritize diversity; Goldman, which lags when it comes to female leadership, names a new CEO for its bank unit, coincidentally swapping in a man for a woman. Also, Ruth Porat, chief culture officers, and the stubborn gender pay gap.

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Growth Plans Are a Bad Response to Weak ROE

05/19/16

Banks need to be self-critical in evaluating a growth strategyÂ's chance of success while realizing that itÂ's hard to rebound from a growth failure.

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Beware (and Understand) Corporate Borrowers' Climate Risk

05/19/16

The financial services sector would benefit from companies Â-- banks included Â-- submitting dedicated disclosures on the impact of climate change.

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