BankThink

JPM Weighs Admission in 'Whale' Case; SAC Seeks Deal to Stay Open

08/09/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... London Whale Investigations: Federal probes into JPMorgan Chase's disastrous 'London Whale' trades may finally be coming to a close. The Journal reported that Whale trader Bruno Iksil is "unlikely to face charges" from the fiasco, but that "Mr. Iksil is no longer a focus of investigators, people familiar with the situation said." The FT said the bank is set "to admit wrongdoing in a civil settlement with" U.S. and U.K. officials. The…

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How to Perfect Your Bank's Website

08/09/13

Its landing page should make it easy for prospective customers to see where to sign-up for an account, research interest rates and apply for a loan or credit card.

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Fear of Boomerang Mortgages Still Hinders the Market

08/08/13

The Federal Housing Finance Agency should further narrow the circumstances in which Fannie or Freddie can make a lender repurchase a loan. This would encourage lending and strengthen the recovery.

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Why Most Bank M&A Deals Are Duds

08/08/13

Buyers, sellers and shareholders rarely profit from bank acquisitions, the author argues. There are too many things that have to go right in the pricing and integration, and there is too much that can go wrong.

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Swipe Fees and Free Markets: How Durbin Can Help Payments

08/08/13

Now the pressure is on banks to develop creative new products and services and work harder to show their value.

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JPM Discloses Criminal Probe; Grameen Bank Faces Nationalization

08/08/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

JPM Under Fire: JPMorgan Chase disclosed in a filing on Wednesday that the U.S. Justice Department has opened up a criminal and civil probe into its sale of mortgage-backed securities leading up to the crisis. Per the filing, investigators have "preliminarily concluded that the firm violated certain federal securities laws" while selling subprime mortgage securities to investors. Both JPM and the DOJ are declining to comment further at this time. News outlet...

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Keeping Deal Information Confidential in a Digital World

08/07/13

Technologies like webcasts, email, instant messages and cloud sharing are making it harder to maintain confidentiality and attorney-client privilege in deal negotiations.

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How Community Banks Can Come Back Strong in the Mortgage Business

08/07/13

The decline of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could usher in a mortgage renaissance for community banks facilitated by their natural partner, the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

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New Ruling on Swipe Fee Cap; Same Tired Arguments from Banks

08/07/13

The lower profits and new fees banks predicted when the swipe fee cap on debit cards was initially proposed never came to fruition. Why believe them now?

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B of A Gets Sued and UBS Settles as SEC 'Loses Steam' With Crisis-Related Investigations

08/07/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Sued: Well, we know this was coming — The U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission filed parallel civil lawsuits on Tuesday, alleging Bank of America misled investors about the quality of $850 million in mortgage-backed securities sold in the lead up to the financial crisis. Important to note: the case deals with prime jumbo mortgages that were securitized and sold by B of A, not its much-maligned acquisition Countrywide....

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