BankThink

Morning Scan: JPMorgan Probe Reaches Top of Chinese Ranks; Prepaid Cards at Fault in IRS Breach?

05/28/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Chinese Connections: U.S. officials' investigation of potential violation of antibribery laws is reaching to some of the highest levels of the Chinese government. Two agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department, have subpoenaed JPMorgan Chase for information about Wang Qishan, one of seven members of the Chinese politburo that rules the country, the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times reported, citing a copy of the April 29 subpoena and...

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Cracking the Glass Ceiling: Advice for Women in Banking

05/27/15

Women in banking are making big strides Â-- but there's still a long way to go before achieving gender parity at the executive level. Here's how up-and-comers can carve out a path to the top.

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Small-Business Loan Brokers Need a Code of Ethics

05/27/15

The explosive growth of largely unregulated online lenders has given them new opportunities to prey on unsuspecting borrowers.

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Morning Scan: IRS Admits Crooks Steal Customer Info; Libor 'Ringmaster' Goes on Trial

05/27/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Cracking the Tax Code: The taxman is the latest victim of identity theft. The Internal Revenue Service said hackers stole tax-return information for about 100,000 U.S. households, including Social Security numbers. The thieves used the IRS's own online services to penetrate its databases, cracking the code of multistep authentication processes. Interestingly, the IRS commissioner, John Koskinen, said the incident was "not a hack or data breach. These are imposters pretending to be...

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The Best Big-Bank Resolution Plan: Avoid Crises in the First Place

05/26/15

By ensuring that all big-bank investors receive equal treatment in bankruptcy and looking for other ways to prevent short-term liquidity problems from becoming major financial crises, Congress can avoid the need to test the FDICÂ's ability to resolve large financial institutions.

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Where Banks Need to Focus If They Want to Outperform

05/26/15

The best-performing banks are those that continue to invest in growth, rather than those that fixate on containing expenses, writes Capital Performance Group's Kevin Halsey.

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Morning Scan: Tributes to Game Theory Pioneer John Nash; Bank Stocks to Rise?

05/26/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ... A Beautiful Mind: Tributes to John Nash were plentiful after the mathematician made famous by his depiction in the film "A Beautiful Mind" was killed in an taxi accident this weekend. Nash's doctoral thesis placed game theory, the study of strategic interactions, at the heart of economics, the Financial Times said. After Nash's insights, "economists stopped thinking exclusively about unrealistic models of perfectly competitive markets and began focusing on cases in whichÂ...

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Sparring Over Shelby's Reg Reform Bill: Weekly Wrap

05/22/15

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the merits and drawbacks of Sen. Richard Shelby's regulatory reform legislation, whether bigger banks are inherently riskier and banks' evolving interest in blockchain technology.

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End Fannie and Freddie's Free Ride on Government Credit

05/22/15

Fannie and Freddie's profits depend on having their obligations backed by the U.S. Treasury. Therefore they should have to pay a sensible price for this backstop Â-- just like big banks.

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Morning Scan: Criminal Pleas No Longer Scary; Will Shelby Bill Beat the Odds?

05/22/15

Editor's note: Morning Scan will not publish on Monday, May 25 in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. We'll be back on Tuesday, May 26. Receiving Wide Coverage ...

What's Next for the Shelby Bill: The Senate Banking Committee approved Sen. Richard Shelby's proposed regulatory reform bill Thursday, but Senate Republicans will need to reach across the aisle to get the legislation to pass. Their chances of gaining bipartisan support for the bill vary widely in news...

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