BankThink

Banc of CaliforniaÂ's proposed acquisition of 20 Banco Popular branches offers an opportunity for regulators to ensure that underserved customers and communities are not left behind in bank deals, writes Paulina Gonzalez of the California Reinvestment Coalition.

Federal Reserve stress tests evaluate banks' ability to withstand severely adverse scenarios like the Great Recession. But the next downturn may pose different problems, according to Tony Hughes of Moody's Analytics.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

CIT Goes Big: CIT Group's plan to buy OneWest Bank for $3.4 billion is a big deal in more ways than one. Not only is it the industry's biggest purchase since 2012, CIT would become "the world's first intentionally created SIFI" with $67 billion in assets, as noted by the Journal's John Carney. Investors are cheering CIT chief John Thain's decision to leap over the $50 billion asset threshold because the deal...

Lenders are working to meet affordable housing needs by extending mortgages to borrowers with a broader range of credit scores and offering loans with lower down payments. But there's still more work to be done, according to Fannie Mae's Jeffery Hayward and Anne McCulloch.

Dodd-Frank encourages the pursuit of financial stability at the expense of economic growth. Congress can fix the problem by amending the law so that regulators are required to balance both goals, writes Paul H. Kupiec of the American Enterprise Institute.