BankThink

Execs Need Better Intel than What They Hear at Conferences

11/06/15

At a time when banking executives face constant change in the industry, it is time for community bankers to share what has worked hasn't worked for them to narrow the knowledge gap.

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Morning Scan: Banks May Dump Data Centers for the Cloud; Foreign Banks Gobble Up Deposits

11/06/15

Breaking News This Morning ...

Employment Report: Unexpectedly Strong Hiring and Unemployment Report Boosts Chance of Rate Hike Wall Street Journal

The new tech giants are the companies that control the Internet economy through their dominance in virtual computing: online search, messaging, advertising, applications, computing and storage on demand. The kings of the cloud (as it were): Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. ...

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Women in Banking: Mooney's Power Move; Virgin Money's Gender Equity Push

11/05/15

KeyCorpÂ's biggest deal since Beth Mooney became CEO would make it the 13th largest U.S. commercial bank if approved, and a proposal from Virgin Money's Jayne-Anne Gadhia could prompt the U.K. to peg bank exec bonuses to gender diversity. Also: Barclays' Barbara Byrne, KKR's Suzanne Donohoe and JPM's Eileen Serra.

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Banks Have Huge Stake in Outcome of Puerto Rico Crisis

11/05/15

Financial institutions that hold government debt would be severely affected if Puerto Rico is allowed to restructure its constitutionally-backed debt.

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Empowering Women in Financial Services Should Be a Goal for Men, Too

11/05/15

Having an inclusive workplace is key to attracting and retaining an important employee segment: female millennials.

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Morning Scan: Yellen Says Banks Must Improve Risk Management; Banks Crack Down on PFM Site Access

11/05/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Yellen Speaks: Risk management still leaves something to be desired at the largest banks, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said during a congressional hearing on Wednesday. "While we have seen some evidence of improved risk management, internal controls, and governance … compliance breakdowns in recent years have undermined confidence," Yellen testified before the House Financial Services Committee. ...

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Bank De-Risking Hurts Charities and Increases Risk of Laundering

11/04/15

A lack of access to financial services, particularly the inability to transfer funds overseas, can prevent lifesaving work from being carried out and has touched the refugee crisis in Europe, where many aid groups are delivering assistance.

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New York Is Losing Its Battle to Regulate Bitcoin

11/04/15

The number of startup companies opting out of the State of New York Â-- more than a dozen Â-- since the financial services department's BitLicense regulation was finalized is troublesome.

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Morning Scan: Feds Looking into Treasury Auction Rigging, Commodities

11/04/15

Wall Street Journal

Prosecutors and regulators want to know if traders rigged auctions on government debt.

The Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have sent requests to banks that serve as primary dealers, seeking information about orders, trading and pricing in Treasury Department auctions.

"Authorities are looking into whether bank traders worked together to bolster their own profits by depressing prices at U.S. government debt auctions," the Journal said, citing unnamed sources. ...

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Explore the Blockchain, Ignore the Bitcoin Maximalists

11/03/15

There is a time, a place and a customer base for pseudonymous cryptocurrency. For regulated financial institutions, other types of shared ledgers Â-- those whose validators are legally accountable for certain terms of service Â-- may provide unique utility.

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