BankThink

In addition to addressing the risks that caused the last crisis, the Financial Stability Oversight Council should be comparing notes about cyber threats with the national security agencies.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Dodd-Frank's Swap Trading Transition: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has sent letters to some of America's biggest banks granting them a two-year transition period to comply with a Dodd-Frank requirement that could curtail swap trading, Reuters reports. The rule, the wire service says, "attempts to keep certain risky trading activity out of entities that receive government backstops, such as deposit insurance or access to the Federal Reserve's discount window."...

Banks are incessantly lobbying the CFTC to hold off on cross-border derivatives rules until other countries write their own regulations. But that could take longer than the next crisis.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Overzealous Overdrafts: As if it weren't tough enough to be a commercial banker these days, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking aim at account overdraft fees—a $32 billion source of industry revenue. In a report released early Tuesday, the agency criticizes U.S. banks for everything from confusing consumers with overdraft fee rules to reordering transactions to increase the fees individual customers pay, the Wall Street Journal reports. "What is marketed as...

Research indicates education from a counselor who helps homeowners understand the terms of their mortgages should be part of the formula for sustainable homeownership.