BankThink

Volcker's Call for Regulatory Reform: Smart and Unlikely

04/22/15

Former Federal Reserve chair Paul Volcker is far from the first watchdog to suggest the U.S. regulatory system is badly in need of a common-sense makeover. Yet a confusing and ineffective structure remains the status quo.

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Morning Scan: FDIC Floats Bank Failure Plan; The Man Behind the Flash Crash?

04/22/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

The Flash Unmasked? Are the world's financial markets so vulnerable that they can be brought down by some guy in the suburbs? That unsettling question is bound to reverberate throughout the industry in the wake of news that U.S. authorities are charging a London trader with triggering the May 2010 "flash crash" that temporarily sent stocks plummeting. Authorities say Navinder Singh Sarao frequently manipulated futures contracts prices by submitting and then canceling...

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Banks Overreact to Risk, and Pawnbrokers Pay the Price

04/21/15

If banks consider licensed and regularly supervised pawnbrokers with many compliance responsibilities to be too risky to bank, then what Main Street businesses are safe?

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Banks Don't Need Protection from Startups — But Consumers Sure Do

04/21/15

Consumers should receive the same level of protection whether they choose to do business with a bank or with marketplace lenders and other challengers.

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Morning Scan: Wells Fargo Eyes GE Business Loans; Chip-and-Pin Mayhem

04/21/15

Breaking News This Morning ...

Earnings: Fifth Third, Synovus Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Bank Tax Backfire? British banks HSBC and Standard Chartered are considering fleeing the land of tea and crumpets for Asia in order to avoid the U.K.'s steep bank taxes. The discussion comes at the behest of shareholders rattled by Britain's decision last month to increase the bank tax by a third. (The tax has been hiked eight times since it was implemented in 2010, according...

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If Banks Can't Solve the Derisking Dilemma, Maybe the Government Will

04/20/15

More and more legal businesses are finding themselves shut out of the banking system. But there are a number of possible solutions-including passing a law that would require banks to maintain accounts for businesses able to meet some standard of due diligence.

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Get Ready for the Rise of the Blockchain

04/20/15

In the same way that Napster and peer-to-peer file sharing changed the face of the recording industry, blockchain technology will force banks to reconsider their traditional roles.

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Morning Scan: Deutsche to Ditch Postbank; Does the DOJ Give Banks Sweetheart Deals?

04/20/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Putting Postbank to Pasture: One way or another, Deutsche Bank plans to ditch its Postbank retail unit. The German megabank is leaning toward selling a majority stake in Postbank over the next year and a half whilst unloading a fifth of its investment-banking assets. But it's also considering the more drastic measure of getting out of retail altogether. The latter move has been recommended by some analysts, who say Deutsche should attempt...

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Does GE Capital Sale Concentrate Risk or Spread It Around? Weekly Wrap

04/17/15

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including thoughts on the sale of GE Capital and how the CFPB's new mortgage disclosure forms will shake up the industry.

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Put the Future of Digital Innovation in Your CMO's Hands

04/17/15

Digital innovation has yet to coalesce around any one executive. Chief marketing officers are ideally positioned to fill the void, since they are the natural leaders in understanding the entire customer experience from origination and sales through delivery and measurement.

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