BankThink

Stockman's Right - U.S. Is Setting Stage for New Financial Crisis

04/18/13

The policies of the last four years and those currently being considered are - as David Stockman argues in his new book - universally anti-growth.

[more]

Incompetence Elevated to Performance Art in Foreclosure Settlement; Chairman Moynihan?

04/18/13

Breaking News This Morning ...

Earnings: BB&T, Fifth Third, KeyCorp, Popular Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Insult to Injury: You can't make this stuff up. A handful of the checks sent to borrowers under the foreclosure settlement bounced. Fingers are pointing in the direction of Rust Consulting, the firm hired to distribute the checks. Anonymice tell the Times that "after collecting the $3.6 billion from the banks … Rust failed to move the money into a central account at...

[more]

Surprise! Big Banks Love Regulation

04/18/13

Their only concern is that regulatory burdens remain high enough to prohibit competition, but low enough to protect revenues and profits.

[more]

Small Banks Will Benefit From Big-Bank Breakup

04/17/13

Taking on the size of firms that put our financial system at risk is the only way to eliminate unfair competitive advantages, unleash free markets and allow community banks to thrive.

[more]

Governments Must Co-Opt Bitcoin to Avert Disaster

04/17/13

Bitcoin and similar rogue digital money exploit the public appetite for an alternative to traditional banking. To stave off this threat, central banks should embrace secure, well-regulated digitization of fiat currencies.

[more]

Money Market Fund Reform Is Nigh; Spot the Hidden Payments Stories!

04/17/13

Breaking News This Morning ...

Earnings: Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Huntington, PNC Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Money Market Funds: New regulations for them are on the way. An SEC spokesman tells the Times that the regulator's staff "expects to have something for the commission's consideration in the near future." BlackRock's Larry Fink told investors he anticipates "some sort of" floating net asset value to be imposed on prime funds (money market funds that buy...

[more]

Regulators Must Take Responsibility for Failed Foreclosure Review

04/17/13

Congress can certainly help, but regulators must recognize that they have a structural oversight problem and need to develop remedies on their own.

[more]

Government Fees, Parking Tickets May Soon Be Paid in Bitcoin

04/16/13

While some call Bitcoin an "existential threat to the state," local governments could soon embrace the digital currency and payment system as a practical alternative to credit and debit cards.

[more]

Groupthink Is Defeating the Purpose of Stress Tests

04/16/13

Publication of the Fed's loss estimates, required by Dodd-Frank, has banks focused on second-guessing the regulator's model, rather than the hard work of improving enterprise risk management.

[more]

Citi CEO Basks in Glowing Coverage; Yes, There Really Is a Dollar-Sniffing Dog

04/16/13

Breaking News This Morning ...

Earnings: U.S. Bancorp, Comerica, Goldman Sachs, Northern Trust Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Tragedy: The nation remains transfixed and saddened by the events in Boston. Boston Globe, Boston Herald, New York Times

Shining Citi: Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat is basking in flattering coverage this morning after posting a 30% profit jump for the first quarter, a period when rivals' results suffered from refi droop. News accounts chalk it up to Corbat's cost cuts; the bank's...

[more]