BankThink

Talk of an FHA Bailout; FERC Zaps JPM; 'Damning' MF Global Report

11/15/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ... The Next Bailout? The Journal and the Times report today that the Federal Housing Administration's annual report, due later this week, will show that its financial condition has worsened considerably. The Journal story prominently suggests the agency may need to draw on taxpayer funds, a prospect downplayed somewhat in the Times article. If you're feeling déjà vu, it may be because on Tuesday American Banker's Kate Berry reported that the FHA was...

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How Central Banks Can Succeed as Systemic Risk Regulators

11/15/12

Central banks are operating under an additional mandate beyond that of setting monetary policy: to regulate the largest, systemically important institutions. Here are five principles for doing that job well.

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How to Fight the New Wave of Mortgage Fraud

11/14/12

Fraudsters are increasingly preying on the default servicing end of the mortgage lifecycle, where traditional detection methods have not been deployed. Fortunately, there are new ways to spot red flags.

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Credit Card Swipe Fee Reform Is Overdue

11/14/12

The Durbin Amendment has made debit card transactions more transparent, increased marketplace competitiveness and reduced prices. Now Congress needs to focus on credit cards.

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Money Market Debate Drags On; Blankfein Speech as a Game of Telephone

11/14/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Money Market Funds Redux: Take 2 on money market funds is coming from the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The SEC couldn't get its act together on regulating money market funds — which have a longstanding tradition of telling investors they have a fixed value even though they kinda don't — so FSOC's stepping in. The council has told the SEC to pick the issue up again, though it's not being didactic. The...

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Fincen Plan to Make Travelers Declare Prepaid Cards Is Unfair

11/14/12

Consumers who travel with debit or credit cards have no obligation to report their bank account balances or the size of their credit lines. Certainly those who rely on prepaid cards to access financial services should be entitled to the same rights.

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Engage a Diverse Work Force to Capture Emerging Markets

11/13/12

Companies that are proactive about intentionally harvesting as many diverse viewpoints as possible can inherently derive innovation out of inclusion.

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How to Lock the Revolving Door

11/13/12

Sheila Bair says we should prohibit examiners from quitting to work in the private sector, to keep them from gaining unjustly favorable regulatory treatment for the banks that later employ them. But the worse abuse runs the opposite way.

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It's Time to Reboot Housing Reform

11/13/12

President Obama's reelection has given his administration a "do-over" opportunity in housing.

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Who Needs a Bank Holding Company When You Can Be Owned by a Company That Does Meatpacking and Plastics?

11/13/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Basel: Following U.S. regulators' delay in implementating Basel III, the Journal presents two different views on the international capital standards' applicability in this country. In the "Heard on the Street" column, David Reilly focuses on the Basel III requirement that capital calculations include unrealized gains or losses on securities. Community banks want to be exempt from this rule (along with the rest of Basel III), arguing that since they intend to hold...

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