BankThink

JPMorgan Plays The Price Is Right, Madoff Edition; More Volcker

12/12/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... What's Another $2 Billion at This Point? Paul Volcker and his eponymous rule have been hogging the financial headlines for far too long this week. Time for JPMorgan Chase to take back its usual place at the center of the spotlight, today with news that it's nearing yet another multi-billion-dollar payout to government authorities. This one involves jailed Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff and a deferred-prosecution agreement for actual criminal charges against JPMorganÂ...

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Google Gets Aggressive in Mobile Wallet Rollout, But What's Next?

12/12/13

The issues Google solves with KitKat were among its biggest hurdles, but it's still too soon to declare a winner in the mobile wallet race.

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What Matthew Yglesias Should Have Said About Small Banks

12/11/13

There may well be too many banks in the United States. ThatÂ's a problem for stock investors and CEOs of publicly traded banks to address, not policymakers.

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Why Community Banks Keep Throwing in the Towel

12/11/13

Even before Dodd-Frank, federal regulations had grown exponentially. The sheer quantity of the regulations is bad enough, but the complexity often confuses banks and their customers and increases compliance costs.

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Banking 2014: Go Virtual or Go by the Wayside

12/11/13

Ten years from now, today's brick-and-mortar banks, and digital banking services, will look like quaint vestiges of a bygone era.

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Volcker Viewpoints; Madoff, Five Years On

12/11/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Wow, what a morning. Scan is still trying to decide whether today's confluence of events out of Washington and Wall Street is poetically just, ironic or just plain spooky. A flood of headlines centered on finalization of the Volcker Rule, a congressional budget deal and the fifth anniversary of Bernard Madoff's arrest. That's a big agenda, but, for brave readers and those who had to get their kids to school early, let'sÂ...

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FDIC Resolution Policy Takes Next, Shaky Step

12/10/13

The five-member board voted unanimously to flesh out how the policy will work when a systemically important company fails. But this show of unity may be misleading and fleeting.

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Success of Yellen Chairmanship Hinges on Nonbank Oversight

12/10/13

Janet Yellen has made it clear she wants to move the Federal Reserve away from a bank-centric regulatory model to one that appropriately tailors rules to the nonbanks that it now regulates.

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How to Brand a Bank Turnaround

12/10/13

When Sterling Bank rebranded following the financial crisis, we conducted focus groups with customers and employees. Engaging these groups ensured that any new or refined messages were believable and authentic to the organization.

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Volcker ... Finally

12/10/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Final Lap for Volcker Rule? A final version of the Volcker Rule, arguably the most controversial element of the Dodd-Frank Act, is expected to be approved by the five U.S. federal banking regulatory agencies today. The law is meant to prevent banks from engaging in risky trading for their own accounts, considered a factor in the downfall of some Wall Street firms in 2008. (A more modern example is JPMorgan Chase's London...

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