BankThink

Risk Managers Should Brush Up on Central Bank Kremlinology

02/12/15

The Swiss National Bank's unexpected move to unpeg the country's currency from the euro serves as a reminder that central bank policies and actions can be hard to predict. Bank risk managers should stay on guard.

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More Cooperation Is Necessary to Fight Payments Crime

02/12/15

This week's White House Summit on cybersecurity at Stanford University comes at a pivotal time for payment and security professionals, which have an opportunity to cooperate to fight Internet crime.

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Morning Scan: B of A Tapped Retail Unit for Risky Trades; Disclosures 'Useless'

02/12/15

Wall Street Journal

Bank of America used federally insured retail deposits to finance risky trades by its European investment banking unit, the paper reports. The bank says it no longer engages in the practice, which is aimed at helping hedge funds and other clients avoid taxes. Regulators had previously questioned Bank of America about the reputational and legal risks associated with dividend arbitrage, and now a bank employee has made whistleblower submissions to the Securities and...

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The Right Way to Take Measure of TBTF

02/11/15

Outcries about regulators' negligence in ending too big to fail ignore a number of major developments since the financial crisis, including the new orderly liquidation authority and the overhaul of the regulatory capital framework.

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CFPB Student Scorecard Offers Much-Needed Reforms

02/11/15

Many colleges partner with banks to offer students special accounts. Unfortunately, the benefits of these accounts are grossly overstated and can even cause harm.

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Morning Scan: Fed Tries to Bond with GOP; Do Felony Pleas Still Scare Banks?

02/11/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Fed Up: The audit the Fed bill has made a comeback in the new Republican-controlled Congress, but it's still got plenty of detractors. The New York Times' Neil Irwin argues the Fed is already pretty darn transparent and well-audited, especially compared to other government institutions. "When people say they want to audit the Fed, what they really mean is 'The Fed is doing things I disagree with,'" he writes. The Wall Street...

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Are Banker's Hours Still Relevant?

02/10/15

Bankers originally needed to shorten their hours in order to allow for the laborious paperwork involved in processing financial transactions. Now thereÂ's no such justification for closing shop.

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Obama's Bank Tax Rests on Shaky Foundation

02/10/15

A better way to deal with the "too big to fail" problem would be to impose higher capital requirements or to issue "rescue" bonds to bank investors.

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Morning Scan: Powell Pans 'Audit the Fed'; DOJ Wants Felony Forex Pleas

02/10/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Pushback Against 'Audit the Fed': Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell took a stand on Monday against the "Audit the Fed" bill that's been gaining traction among some Republicans legislators. Powell himself is a member of the GOP, but he's no fan of the proposal to subject the central bank to policy audits by Congress. The plan could reverse "decades of deliberate effort by the Congress to insulate the Fed from political...

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Financial Inclusion Will Make Big Strides in 2015

02/09/15

Affordable pre-paid cards and checking accounts targeted at low-income customers are among the positive trends likely to gain steam in the months ahead.

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