BankThink

When Screening for Bad Guys, Matching Names No Longer Enough

10/01/13

In a little-noticed agreement with Wells Fargo, the Office of Foreign Assets Control raised the bar on acceptable checking practices and potentially exposed many other financial institutions to penalties.

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Counterargument: The Case for Slowing Dodd-Frank

10/01/13

Editor-at-Large Barbara A. Rehm has argued for months that Dodd-Frank implementation should be sped up so banks can know the rules they face. A slew of sources disagree – here’s why.

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Share Your Star Performers' Strategies with the Rest of the Staff

10/01/13

Giving the rest of our sales teams regular snapshots of factors that brought about star performances is far more useful than simply reporting who those star performers are.

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Wells Settles with Freddie; Occupy Wall Street Creates Prepaid Debit Card

10/01/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Shutdown: The government shut down after House Republicans and Senate Democrats failed to reach a funding deal before the midnight deadline. Big picture coverage is here: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post

Wells Settles with Freddie: Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $869 million to Freddie Mac to resolve repurchase liabilities on faulty mortgages it sold to the government-sponsored enterprise before 2009. Citigroup signed a similar repurchase deal with...

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Banks and Regulators Should Be Allies, Not Enemies

09/30/13

Regulators and financial firms must listen to each other and work together to protect the interests of customers and stakeholders. Only then, will they be able to build a safe and sound financial system.

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How Online Home-Price Estimators Distort the Market

09/30/13

Homebuyers’ use of flawed automated valuation models creates an artificial drag on values during recoveries, amplifies appreciation during booms and results in a wide bid-ask spread that delays or torpedoes sales.

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All Eyes on Congress as Government Shutdown Looms; CLOs Rising

09/30/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Shutdown Showdown: News outlets are heavily focused on a looming government shutdown as political tensions resulted in a Congressional stalemate just ahead of tonight's deadline to avert closure of non-essential government offices. The House did pass legislation over the weekend that would keep the government open through mid-December, but it includes provisions that delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act for one year. Democrats have already indicated they will…

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Regulation: Crisis-Starter or Crisis-Suppressor?; The Future of TBTF

09/27/13

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

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A Two-Pronged Approach to Building Your Bank

09/27/13

Expand by acquisition or through organic market penetration. The most successful banks will include both strategies in their future plans.

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Payment Processors Are Government's Allies Against Fraud

09/27/13

Because third-party processors are on the hook for losses from fraudulent transactions, they have as much interest in eliminating bad actors as anyone.

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