BankThink

Institutions need to realize that, given the relative health of their asset portfolios and the current regulatory environment, valuations and deal prices will be below historical averages.

Banks and regulators have proposed bail-in mechanisms for capital plans. Exposing creditors to losses could help protect taxpayers and depositors, but is long-term debt an adequate substitute for equity?

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Senate Housing Finance Reform Plan Drops: The newly unveiled Corker-Warner plan enjoyed strong support Tuesday from various quarters — senators of both parties, the White House and mortgage industry reps all sounded positive notes — but the papers remind their readers that the overhaul is still likely going nowhere. Right now House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, is the most obvious obstacle. But as American Banker's Victoria Finkle notes, the...

Replacing Fannie and Freddie with a federal catastrophic reinsurance agency is smart. Putting the wrong leader – like a politician – in charge of the new mortgage agency would be disastrous.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Hawks, Doves, Hogs, Turkeys: It hardly compares to 2008, but liquidity in the bond market is drying up fast as investors prepare for a world without stimulus. With recent economic trends punctuated by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments last Wednesday about the timetable for slowing the Fed's bond purchases, investors have pulled near-record amounts of cash from the bond markets in recent weeks, the Journal reports. Meanwhile, Dallas Fed President Richard...