BankThink

Small-Dollar Credit Rules Are an Opportunity, Not a Burden

05/14/14

Banks should view the recent influx of regulations on small-dollar credit loans as a chance to develop products that are at once profitable and safe for consumers.

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Consumer Protection in the Bitcoin Era

05/14/14

By strengthening direct consumer oversight, Bitcoin may shift consumer protection from law and regulation to reputation and trust, and even to mathematical proof of good service.

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Morning Scan: FHFA Changes Tune on Fannie and Freddie; Sallie Mae Pays Up

05/14/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ... FHFA Fanfare: Federal Housing Finance Agency director Mel Watt made waves Tuesday with a speech indicating that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should help make more credit available to homeowners. While the move is intended to bolster the housing market recovery, the Wall Street Journal reports that "some economists and lenders Â... worry that regulators could be opening the way for another boom and bust." the New York Times and the WashingtonÂ...

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Why Geithner Was Pro-Bailout

05/13/14

In his account of the financial crisis, former Treasury Secretary and New York Fed President Tim Geithner offers a full-throated defense of his fight to bail out Washington Mutual's bondholders and protect Citigroup's bid to take over Wachovia.

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CEO Succession Planning: There's a Cost to Complacency

05/13/14

Bank boards are busier than ever, but that's no excuse for putting succession planning on the back burner.

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Mandatory Arbitration Offers Bargain-Basement Justice

05/13/14

Advocates of mandatory arbitration say that it is cheaper than litigation and just as fair to consumers. Both claims are suspect.

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Morning Scan: RBS Moves to Spin Off Citizens; Fed Staffing Strains

05/13/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Citizens Split: Royal Bank of Scotland filed an initial public offering for U.S. retail business Citizens Financial Group on Monday, part of the British bank's plan to rebuild its troubled finances. Citizens, which is based in Providence, R.I., has 1,370 branches, operating in New England, the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest. RBS previously said it would sell about one quarter of its U.S. business by the end of this year, and would exit...

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Why Designating Funds as SIFIs Could Hurt Retirees

05/12/14

Mutual funds pose no threat to the stability of the financial system. Yet regulators appear determined to designate them as systemically important financial institutions-a move that could hurt millions of Americans who depend on the funds as retirement savings vehicles.

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The Future of Finance: Small, Mobile, Discerning and Cryptographic

05/12/14

A look at four financial technology startups reveals major trends in the industry. Mobile applications, digital currencies, small data and alternative lending are all heating up.

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Morning Scan: Reviewing Geithner; European Banks May Face the Music

05/12/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Geithner Parsed: The Monday release of Timothy Geithner's financial crisis memoir Stress Test occasioned a lengthy profile of the former Treasury secretary in the New York Times magazine. The article by Andrew Ross Sorkin includes a number of interesting-if-not-explosive reveals, including Geithner's discomfort with criticizing Wall Street's banker bonuses and the fact that he regrets failing to get more aid for troubled homeowners. Geithner also says that the failure of Lehman Brothers...

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