BankThink

The Volcker Rule: Mission Impossible

02/24/14

Continued focus on this single, but complex Dodd-Frank provision will distract bank managers and regulators from finding ways to make the global financial system healthier.

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Regulators Must Preempt Volcker Fire Sales

02/24/14

Prohibiting future ownership of unstable CLOs is probably a good thing. Forcing a select group of banks, however, to sell these assets over a short time is not the optimal solution.

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Morning Scan: Fed Gives Everyone a Reason to Revisit the Financial Crisis; HSBC Earnings

02/24/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ... HSBC Earnings: HSBC's profit rose 9% last year to $22.6 billion, a sum that was short of analysts' $24.5 billion expectations. Per the Journal, "shutting businesses and the continuing runoff of its U.S. consumer finance business" hurt revenue. The bank addressed investor concerns over its exposure to emerging markets, particularly Asia, saying it was "optimistic about the longer-term prospects," but that it did "anticipate greater volatility in 2014." HSBC revealed it plansÂ...

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Weekly Wrap: Scrutinizing Payday Scrutiny; Anticipating Senate GSE Bill

02/21/14

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

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The Perils of Fixed-Rate Lending

02/21/14

The highway to higher bank profits is littered with dead banks and S&Ls. DonÂ't be surprised to discover a few more casualties along the highway if and when long-term fixed-rate lending really takes off.

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Morning Scan: Fed's Key Critics; Dimon's Dual Role Safe

02/21/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

No Love for Fed: The Federal Reserve's decision to require foreign banks in the U.S. to hold more capital could pose a conflict for foreign policymakers in their efforts to end too-big-to-fail scenarios, the Journal reports. But that's not the only international conflict expected. The Journal says Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen could get "an earful" from foreign nations during the G-20 meeting this weekend about its tapering of asset purchases. Back...

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Get Ready for a New Onslaught of HMDA Data

02/20/14

I myself am a HMDA wonk, but one with a rather love-hate relationship to the numbers. I love what they reveal, but hate the headaches that come from wrestling with data.

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Fed's Final Foreign Bank Rule Increases Risk in Global Banking

02/20/14

The rule prohibits big foreign banks from allocating capital and liquidity in a manner they deem to be most efficient. This may be an acceptable price to pay if the overall result were enhanced stability, but trapping capital and liquidity in particular jurisdictions is likely to make large banks less resilient in times of crisis.

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Fed's Foreign Capital Clout; More Money for Moynihan

02/20/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Is it Time to Tighten Up? That is the question that some Fed officials apparently raised during the central bank's policy meeting last month. Some members showed support for raising interest rates. The Journal notes that, "The fact that the subject came up at all Â... shows how the central bank's policy debate is slowly and subtly evolving." The New York Times discusses how the Fed's minutes portend a further reduction in...

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Payday Crackdown Creates More Problems than It Solves

02/18/14

Before regulators go any further, they should open a public dialogue to make sure they don't do a lot more harm by eliminating the few lenders that remain.

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