BankThink

The FHLB System Needs to Be Inclusive

02/11/16

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's decision to exclude captive insurance companies from Federal Home Loan Bank membership makes the FHLB system like a private country club.

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Alternative Lenders Play with Fire by Discarding FICO

02/11/16

Disruption in credit scoring is healthy, but the new models touted by marketplace and other alternative lenders are still untested, especially about how loans will perform in a downturn.

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Morning Scan: Can Fed Go Negative?; BNP Paribas Cold on Energy

02/11/16

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Yellen vs. Congress, Round 1: Caution was the word during the first of two days of Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen's semiannual testimony before Congress. While she wouldn't signal the central bank's plan as far as interest rates are concerned, she did confirm that falling stock prices and the volatility seen in other financial markets concern the Fed. But Yellen did not give way to doomsday predictions either. While she expressedÂ...

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Banks Must Prepare Now for Prospect of Negative Rates

02/11/16

Other countries have already lowered interest rates below zero, and the financial stability concerns of such a policy taking shape in the U.S. should not be dismissed.

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Regulators Foster De-Risking More than They Admit

02/10/16

The pressure on banks to become less risky backfires when they respond by curtailing services that are vital in a functioning financial system.

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Yesterday's Bank Mobile App Won't Cut It Anymore

02/10/16

Banks are coming up short in trying to keep pace with other more advanced app providers, but emulating these five steps taken by nonbanks can help drive mobile engagement.

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How Sanders' Bank Plan Would Kill Credit Availability for the Poor

02/09/16

Sen. Bernie Sanders' victory in New Hampshire will undoubtedly boost his campaign, but his plan to cap interest rates for credit card and other consumer loans at 15% won't help anyone in the short term and could potentially wreak havoc on low-income people in the long term. Here's how.

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Clock's Running Out to Fix 'Prompt Corrective Action'

02/09/16

Overhauling the S&L crisis-era method for intervening in struggling banks, which did not live up to expectations during the 2008 meltdown, should be a higher priority.

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FHFA Is Right: Captives Don't Belong in Home Loan Banks

02/09/16

The Federal Home Loan Bank System was designed to provide liquidity to community lenders and traditional insurers, not to unregulated lenders that circumvent the membership rules.

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Morning Scan: Bank Stock Slide Continues; London Banks Fear Brexit

02/09/16

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Banks' Stock Slump: Investors have turned on the world's biggest banks so far this year. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index slipped more than 3% on Monday and has fallen roughly 20% since the start of the year. And many of the largest banks' stock dropped more than 4% Monday. The health of banking behemoths has become a trigger for worry – since a slump in bank stocks can signal turbulence in the...

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