BankThink

The Best Defense to Litigation Is a Good Bank Culture

12/16/14

The latest series of bank settlements over alleged attempts to manipulate the foreign exchange market suggests that lenders need to set about pruning the ranks of problem employees and retraining those who remain.

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Morning Scan: British Banks, Except Co-Op, Pass Stress Test; Ocwen's Troubles

12/16/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

British Stress-Testing: One bank, Co-operative Bank, failed the Bank of England's stress test, while Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group passed...but barely . The tests were "demanding," but the results show British banks are "significantly more resilient" than last year, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said. RBS and Lloyds' results were made more palatable by the fact that both have already installed programs to boost their capital levels (although...

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My Life on the CFPB 'Dark Side'

12/15/14

Cliff Rosenthal left his credit union colleagues behind to become assistant director of the CFPB in 2012. He found an energetic, dedicated agency under attack from political opponents and hampered by institutional hubris.

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Morning Scan: Leveraged Lending on PetSmart Deal; Deal on Derivatives

12/15/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

PetSmart's Debt Financing: That whole thing about regulators cracking down on big banks for providing too much debt-financing in takeover deals? Eh, who cares? Citigroup is one of five banks that's underwriting billions of dollars in in debt to help finance the $8.7 billion private-equity acquisition of retailer PetSmart led by BC Partners. The debt in the PetSmart deal, in the most recent negotiations, equates to more than six times cash flow....

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How I Ended Up in a Congressional 'Choke Point' Report

12/14/14

The blatant mischaracterization of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. communications in a House Oversight Committee report undercuts the aim of the investigation into regulatory scrutiny of bank-payday lending relationships.

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Weekly Wrap: Someday My Bailout Will Come; Chief Ethics Officers?

12/12/14

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

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Accounting for Turbulence in the Value of Deposits

12/12/14

The financial system will be safer if accounting standards force banks to incorporate risk into the way they value and report cash and cash equivalents.

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Morning Scan: Banks Fined for Fighting Over 'Toys'; Medical Bill Woes

12/12/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Conflict of Interest Strikes Again: Toys tend to make children get greedy, and they appear to produce a similar effect on investment banks. Ten firms were fined $43.5 million Thursday over charges they offered up flattering research analysis in an effort to score a piece of the Toys "R" Us initial public offering. Citigroup, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs are among the banks cited by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Wall...

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No Sense in Keeping the GSEs Undercapitalized

12/11/14

There's little point to Fannie and Freddie's large profits if that money is remitted to the Treasury rather than making the GSEs more financially stable.

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Bank Safety Goes Beyond Capital Standards

12/11/14

More robust risk management frameworks and technology infrastructures are at least as important as higher capital standards in preventing another global financial crisis.

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