BankThink

Some Transactions Should Always Start (and End) With a Handshake

01/15/14

With no more lines and far more banks to choose from, I want the one I select to handle my exceptional transactions exceptionally. I want to leave my bank knowing that my visit was and always will be worthwhile.

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Basel's New Leverage Ratio: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

01/13/14

There are five major changes in Basel's latest guidelines that significantly impact its leverage ratioÂ's denominator, potentially leaving banks significantly undercapitalized in the event of an unexpected loss and endangering our economy.

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Bickering Over Interchange Won't Stop the Next Data Breach

01/13/14

Instead of trying to blame the Target breach on card companies and drag unrelated issues into the discussion, merchants should work with the payments industry to find solutions.

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Bank P-to-P Payments Should Be a Whole Lot Easier

01/13/14

No matter how streamlined my finances have become, there is one regular nuisance: sending money to and from family or friends without the friction that requires recipients to provide hard-to-remember information like account numbers and routing numbers.

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Morning Scan: We've Lost All of Our Leverage Ratio

01/13/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Basel Leverage Rule Softened: Banks around the globe scored a victory Sunday when the Basel committee agreed to soften its proposed leverage ratio. Specific changes to the international proposal affect the treatment of certain derivatives exposures, some off-balance sheet activities, and the netting of repos. Reuters reports that there is still no agreement on the final level of leverage that will be allowed. The Journal notes that Sunday's change follows last year's...

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What Bank Customers Want: Introducing a New Series

01/13/14

WeÂ're asking customers from different demographics to describe what they are looking for from their financial services providers.

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Weekly Wrap: Dick Bove's Defense of Wall Street; What Banking Could Do Without

01/10/14

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

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How to Make Non-'Qualified' Mortgages Bulletproof

01/10/14

Lenders can take advantage of a concept the CFPB missed: compensating factors. Strong credit histories, substantial down payments, stable jobs and documented incomes can offset high debt-to-income ratios, for example.

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Morning Scan: The Evolving Mortgage Market; Sandy Weill's New Job; More Big Bank Fines Looming?

01/10/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

More Big Bank Fines Looming? Wall Street banks could wind up paying a total of $50 billion to put crisis-era mortgage-related allegations behind them, says Dealbook. The figure is based off of "interviews and a confidential analysis of the industry's potential legal exposure" that used JPMorgan Chase's record $13 billion mortgage settlement as a template. Following that deal, it's been widely believed other big banks (particularly Bank of America) were on the...

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Stop Dithering and Fix the Volcker Rule Now

01/09/14

If regulators want to limit the damage in Main Street communities, they should completely exempt Trups CDOs from the Volcker Rule. This would avoid needless writedowns without putting Main Street communities at financial risk.

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