BankThink

Hoenig Is Right: Exams Should Home In on Big Banks

02/15/13

Boosting regulatory oversight of Wall Street firms will better allocate examiner resources to the riskiest financial firms and help reduce unnecessary burdens on community banks.

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Will CFPB Be Renamed 'Consumer Family Protection Bureau'?

02/15/13

Editor's note: Morning Scan will not publish on Monday, Feb. 18 in observance of the Presidents Day holiday. We'll be back on Tuesday, Feb. 19. Receiving Wide Coverage ... Senator Warren: She's the firebrand you expected, admonishing financial regulators from her Senate Banking Committee seat ("The question I really want to ask is about how tough you are") and fighting the Republican filibustering of Richard Cordray's renomination. Interestingly, one reason Elizabeth Warren urges a quick confirmation of...

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Stamping Nonbanks 'SIFI' Is Harmful and Needless

02/15/13

Labeling a firm "systemically important" will tip the competitive scales one way or the other - to no purpose, since the exercise is premised on a misunderstanding of the 2008 financial crisis.

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Poor Communication After a Merger Drives Customers Away

02/14/13

Changes to product offerings and pricing give the impression that the new bank does not have the customers' best interests at heart. Feeling undervalued is a key emotional reason they defect.

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Memo to Washington: Time to Tackle Housing Finance Reform

02/14/13

Congress is afraid to tackle this complicated and contentious issue, but the market badly needs positive signals from our lawmakers that provide certainty about the future of housing finance.

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U.K. Regulator to Libor Panel Banks: You Can Check Out Anytime You Like ... But You Can Never Leave

02/14/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Jack Lew's Confirmation Hearing: According to the Post, "The questions from the Senate Finance Committee, which is vetting Lew, reflected the widening responsibilities of the Treasury secretary, a role that shapes policy on trade, taxes, economic growth - and now banking regulation." Despite pointed questions about his lucrative work at Citigroup, his Cayman Islands hedge fund investment, etc., "Lew handled the confirmation so smoothly that toward the end of the hearing, Republicans...

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Actually, Disparate Impact Rule Discourages Racial Quotas

02/14/13

The oft-mischaracterized HUD rule will discourage any race-based decision making and minimize lawsuits. Why would any lender want to continue a practice with a discriminatory effect but no business objective?

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Dilution of Basel III Threatens Global Financial Stability

02/13/13

Due to continuing struggles within global economies, the interconnected financial framework requires higher levels of capital, liquidity and investments in assets that can objectively be considered safe.

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Banking Conspicuously Absent from State of the Union Address

02/13/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

State of the Union Address: Obama urged passage of a mortgage refinancing bill, but otherwise made no mention of banking or financial services, to the relief of some industry executives. In the Republican rebuttal, Marco Rubio alluded to the role of "reckless government policies" in the housing crisis and called for improved disclosures to student loan borrowers. Incidentally, why all the fuss about taking a swig of water? He was giving a...

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How to Keep Mobile Banking from Becoming a Bust

02/13/13

Retail banks must start innovating, improve integration across channels and consider charging fees for services to maximize their return on investment.

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