BankThink

The Biggest Threat to Community Banks Is Thinking Small

01/26/16

Too many institutions focus on time-wasting tasks that divert their attention from how to stay relevant in a rapidly changing banking environment.

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Morning Scan: AIG Avoids Break-Up; JPM's $1.42B Lehman Settlement

01/26/16

Breaking News This Morning ...

JPMorgan Settles Lehman Claims: JPMorgan Chase & Co. will pay $1.42 billion in cash to the Lehman Brothers Holdings creditors, settling most of the remaining claims from the failed investment bank. In particular, the settlement relates to $6.3 billion of clearing-related claims and $2.3 billion of derivatives-related claims, two of the three major pieces of litigation pending between the two entities, the Financial Times noted. Lawyers for the estate of Lehman...

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Morning Scan: Fed's Rate Hike Questioned; Banks Sever Ties with Mexico

01/25/16

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Did the Fed Mess Up?: To put it mildly, it's been a rough few weeks for equity markets and the global economy. Slides in corporate profits, stocks, commodities and even industrial production have left some invoking the "R" word: recession. Others are kinder – merely arguing we're entering a bear market after a very extended bull run. But, as discussions of what caused the market and economic downturns stir, one common cause...

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Stop the Campaign to Demonize Leveraged Loans

01/25/16

Regulators and alarmists are targeting a key source of financing on which some of the best-known American companies rely.

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CFPB's Auto Finance Push Hurts Consumers

01/25/16

The way the Consumer Financial Protection Agency is regulating the auto finance industry's relationships with dealers is simply wrong Â-- both legally and ethically Â-- according to Blair Evans of Baker Donelson. It's also directly counterproductive to its goal of protecting consumers, she says.

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Three Reforms Even the Loudest Banking Critics Should Applaud

01/22/16

Progressives' push for a more drastic overhaul of the industry ignores post-crisis changes that have had an undeniably positive effect.

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Banks, Vendors Need New Strategy on Bill Pay

01/22/16

A service that used to be a no-brainer for banks is now hampered by limited revenue and a hard-to-justify cost structure.

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Morning Scan: Blackstone Capitalizes on Bank Cast-Offs; Chenault's Woes at Amex

01/22/16

Breaking News This Morning ...

Earnings: 4th quarter earnings from SunTrust Banks, Citizens Financial Group. Wall Street Journal

Digital Asset Holdings just wrapped up a $50 million capital raise from a group of 13 investors that includes JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, BNP Paribas and Accenture. The Blythe Masters-led company may announce more funding from additional banks in the coming weeks, unnamed sources told the Wall Street Journal. Read American Banker's story on the $50 million investment here. ...

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Women in Banking: Davos Edition

01/21/16

Gender parity is high on the agenda in Davos, where the World Economic ForumÂ's annual gathering of the wealthiest and most powerful is overwhelmingly male. Ian Bremmer makes a case for keeping Christine Lagarde at the IMF for another term and a study suggests that as technology starts taking peopleÂ's jobs, women will suffer the bulk of the job losses.

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AML Scandals that Flew Under the Radar in '15

01/21/16

Money-laundering episodes included a purported Whitey Bulger associate looting a church's coffers and the arrest of a Houston socialite on gambling-related charges.

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