BankThink

TBTF Is a Symptom of a Bigger Problem

05/10/13

Banks, conflicted by moral hazard, will always fight for maximum FDIC coverage at the least possible cost, since the FDIC is ultimately backed by Other People’s Money.

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JPM Ends Long Week with New Lawsuit; RBS Names New Citizens Financial CEO; ATM Bank Heist

05/10/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... More JPM Woes: California Attorney General Kamala Harris is suing JPMorgan Chase over alleged credit card debt collection abuses. Per the lawsuit, JPM "engaged in widespread, illegal robo-signing, among other unlawful practices, to commit debt-collection abuses against approximately 100,000 California credit card borrowers over at least a three-year period." The bank, thus far, is declining to comment on the lawsuit. Various news outlets report other enforcement actions from regulators concerning the collection…

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POS Systems Present Big Opportunities for Payment Providers

05/09/13

New POS schemes bring uncertainties. Merchants need partners who can help them scale their solutions while growing sales and increasing customers.

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Leverage Ratios Beat the Black Box of Risk-Based Capital

05/09/13

The president of the Kansas City Fed responds to the ABA's James Chessen.

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Bankers, Regulators Embrace Fuzzy Science of Ops Risk

05/09/13

Operations Risk has become a buzzword among bankers and regulators lately. Unfortunately, repackaging mainstream management duties as a discrete discipline could do more harm than good.

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Fed Needs to Rethink Proposed Nonbank Rules

05/09/13

The Fed should ditch tailored versions of bank-centric rules for ones that build on current nonbank regulation and are informed by comments received in the pending rulemakings.

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Foreclosure Settlement Gets Bungled ... Again; JPM's Corporate Governance Drama Revisited; Big Banks Band Together

05/09/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Another Foreclosure Error: First, the OCC and Federal Reserve oversaw a foreclosure review process that benefited independent consultants more than actual homeowners. Next, the regulators replaced this costly foreclosure review with a settlement that gave only $300 to most affected borrowers. Then some of the checks mailed to borrowers bounced. Now regulators have disclosed that nearly 100,000 borrowers received checks for less than what they were owed, due to a clerical error...

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Too Many Bankers Keep Ignoring History

05/08/13

Lending is a holistic business – it requires broad thinking about the impact of credit decisions. A culture of discipline is critical. Banks’ cultures today are overdue for an overhaul.

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America's Renters Need a Government Guarantee

05/08/13

New reports from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac show the value of a government guarantee on multifamily mortgages.

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Debate Over Dimon's Dual Role Intensifies; Judge Paves Way for AIG Suit Against B of A

05/08/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... More Doubts Around Dimon's Dual Role: Another day, another round of worrisome headlines for JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon. Major proxy firm Glass, Lewis and Co. has come out in favor of a shareholder's proposal that would split Dimon's dual role as CEO and chairman. Scan readers will recall that yesterday, the Journal reported three of JPM's largest shareholders — BlackRock, Vanguard Group and Fidelity Investments — "remain undecided" as to how they…

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