BankThink

The Limitations of Dodd-Frank; Regulating Rating Agencies

09/06/13

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

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The Missed Opportunities of Dodd-Frank

09/06/13

The law's biggest mistake was failing to consolidate financial regulators, Editor-At-Large Barbara A. Rehm says, but there are plenty of other shortcomings as well.

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The Return of Bank M&A Deals That Actually Add Value

09/06/13

Recent acquisitions by MB Financial and PacWest illustrate how deals can add value. M&A is returning as a valid alternative for implementing strategy that will reshape the industry.

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JPM Exits Student Loan Business; Fed Chair Frontrunner Could Face Key Senate Opposition

09/06/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

JPM Ditches School: JPMorgan Chase is dropping out of the student loan business. The Journal calls the exit "the latest development in a larger push by JPMorgan to exit businesses it no longer dominates." The government, of course, is the dominant lender in this space, accounting for over 85% of the market. Wells Fargo now stands as the only big bank still making student loans, though Discover Financial Services has widened its...

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Dodd-Frank Rules Provide Limited Protection for Mortgage Investors

09/05/13

Strengthening the underlying loan manufacturing process and diversifying this risk in the secondary market remain critical to ensuring the integrity of the market.

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Global Banks Are Undercapitalized. Is That So Wrong?

09/05/13

The Basel system has sanctioned bank balance sheets on the verge of insolvency, but in doing so it may have permitted much more lending and much more trading.

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JPM Probed for Possibly Obstructing Probe; Nasdaq Malfunctions Again

09/05/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... A Probe Within a Probe: Just when you thought we would go a week without learning new details about JPMorgan Chase's regulatory troubles, reports surface that the nation's largest bank is currently being probed about possibly obstructing a probe. As it turns out, the Justice Department's criminal investigation into whether JPM manipulated U.S. energy markets (remember that one?) is really focused on whether the bank withheld information from regulators during the Federal…

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Today's Mortgage Reform Could Become Tomorrow's Redlining

09/05/13

Will mortgage reform rectify past discriminatory practices or close the gap between white and nonwhite rates of homeownership? The major proposals in Washington show little interest in these critical questions.

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Why Roundtable's Pawlenty Weighed In on Syria

09/04/13

While some saw Tim Pawlenty's unexpected recommendation to strike Syria as a sign he may be weighing a return to politics, the former Minnesota governor said he is focused on his "current job" as head of the Financial Services Roundtable.

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Foreign Regulators Weigh In on U.S. Banks. Who Asked Them?

09/04/13

The idea of subjecting U.S. financial supervision to peer review by European and Asian financial regulators with their own problems is a bit rich to swallow.

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