BankThink

How to Manage Bankers' Voracious Risk Appetites

05/29/14

The regulatory focus must shift from prohibiting undesirable risk behavior to changing the incentives that cause that behavior.

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Morning Scan: Preventing the Next Housing Crisis; Santander Targeted for Alleged Redlining

05/29/14

Wall Street Journal

It's hard out there for a U.S. bank, the Journal reports. Plunging mortgage revenue and lower trading activity propelled a 7.6% decline in banks' year-over-year first-quarter profits, according to newly released data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Year-over-year profits had only fallen once in the past 19 quarters, according to the FDIC. The declines in revenue make layoffs and other cost-cutting measures more likely in the months to follow. The paper's "Heard...

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Overcoming the Barriers to Biometrics

05/28/14

Diebold Chief Innovation Offer Frank Natoli Jr. maps out what it will take to make biometrics a banking reality.

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What Ancient Pots Can Teach Us About the Future of Payments

05/28/14

Historical patterns of human innovation suggest that the ever-expanding array of payment technologies will eventually hit a wall. Some of todayÂ's most prominent payments platforms may not survive the next cycle.

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A New Defense Against Municipal Disparate Impact Claims

05/28/14

Cities including Baltimore and Los Angeles have brought lawsuits against banks alleging that subprime lending to minority borrowers wound up costing municipalities tens of millions of dollars. A recent Supreme Court ruling could help banks deflect such charges.

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Morning Scan: Square Makes Small Business Loans; Is SEC Slow on Reform?

05/28/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Never Christmas: Big banks including Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase are reporting a continued slowdown in trading. Fewer big trades, low volatility, economic uncertainty and pullback from large investors have all contributed to dwindling trading revenue for several quarters, according to news reports of a banking industry conference sponsored by Deutsche Bank on Tuesday. "Some investors have begun to worry that the slowdown may be more than a temporary phenomenon," the Wall Street...

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A Road Map for Coordinating Federal and State Regulation

05/27/14

A consolidated exam force could give state regulators access to federal resources without undermining the dual banking system.

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Stop Gouging Travelers with Dynamic Currency Conversion

05/27/14

Merchants who use dynamic currency conversion should be required to give consumers full disclosure about the service's added fees.

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Morning Scan: IMF Head Blasts Financial Industry for Resisting Reform

05/27/14

Wall Street Journal

Federal prosecutors are on an international hunt for U.S. tax dodgers. Credit Suisse, which last week pleaded guilty to helping Americans evade taxes, has agreed to relinquish some records that will help authorities sniff out individuals who have hidden money in foreign accounts. Meanwhile, roughly 100 Swiss banks "have applied to join a Justice Department program that allows them to voluntarily turn over records about possible undisclosed U.S. accounts." The Justice Department may...

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Weekly Wrap: Helping Homeowners; Preparing for ACA Disruption

05/23/14

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

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