BankThink

Government Benefit Cards Can Open Doors to Banking System

03/05/13

Cards preloaded with unemployment insurance, child support, food stamps and other government benefits can be viewed as potential bank accounts, waiting to be opened by people with the fewest quality opportunities to connect to the financial mainstream.

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Fannie, Freddie to Form New Firm; Corbat's Executive Review Plan; JPM's Whale Resurfaces

03/05/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Fannie-Freddie Merger: One big step for housing reform? Federal Housing Finance Agency acting director Edward DeMarco unveiled plans on Monday to merge certain parts of government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to "create a common platform for issuing mortgage-backed securities." Details on this plan were scarce, but the merger of certain "back-office functions" would involve forming a new company with its own CEO, management and headquarters. This firm...

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Boards Must Brace for Tougher Enforcement Environment

03/05/13

Criminal indictments of bank employees indicate a failure in the institution's governance, risk and compliance policies. Boards must take the time to improve their risk management systems.

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It's Time to Adopt a Unified Voice for Housing

03/04/13

The best way to meet the needs of consumers and communities is to once again have the private sector play the lead role in the housing market, led by responsible local lenders.

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Executive Pay Crackdown; Review of Foreclosure Reviews Continues; Is JPM Pushing into Wealth Management to Push its Own Products?

03/04/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Executive Pay: The global crackdown on executive pay continues. Swiss voters backed a plan over the weekend that places severe limits on how companies pay their executives and directors. These limits give shareholders (including pension funds holding shares) a binding say on executive compensation, prohibit bonuses from being awarded to executives joining or leaving the firm and require "annual re-elections for directors." Firms that violate these rules could face heavy fines equal...

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'Prepaid Card' = Checking Account

03/04/13

Characteristics of prepaid cards and checking accounts have converged. This will continue until they are simply different names for the same thing. Manage them together, and provide with each all the relevant features for which customers will profitably pay.

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Raise Capital Levels, But Ditch Basel III

03/01/13

Federal agencies have the authority and ability to raise minimum capital in a direct and meaningful way, outside of the Basel III process.

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Reviewing the Review of the Review of Foreclosures

03/01/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... The Sequester: It's scheduled to take effect sometime today, with a last-minute budget deal considered unlikely. For banks, that means budget cuts at regulators, further delaying Dodd-Frank rulemakings, not to mention indirect effects on the industry from the broader economic impact, as American Banker recently explained. For big-picture coverage: Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post ...

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How to Make the Most of a Bad Situation

03/01/13

Bankers must concentrate on achieving greater efficiencies, stop focusing on short-term goals and strike the right balance between unacceptably poor compliance practices and unattainable perfection.

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Home Lenders Damned if They Stick to QM, Damned if They Don't

02/28/13

Making home loans that aren't "qualified mortgages" will soon carry legal risk. Will making only QM loans expose lenders to fair-lending claims under the disparate impact doctrine? Washington must clarify.

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