BankThink

Subprime Mortgage Risk Is Still Keeping Economy Down

11/06/12

What happens when the government's investors start demanding a normal rate of interest? House prices could plummet, mortgage defaults could soar and the added interest costs could cause the federal deficit to spiral out of control.

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Election Day Overview; Taubman Out at Morgan Stanley; AIA's Tucker in at Goldman

11/06/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Election Day Has Arrived: It seems remiss not to at least mention the story set to dominate today's news cycle. That is, of course, the presidential election, which appears virtually deadlocked as polls open today throughout the U.S. Some notable (and arguably left-leaning) pundits are predicting President Barack Obama will maintain the electoral edge exhibited in key swing state poll results and keep the presidency, while other (arguably right-leaning) pundits are arguing...

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Fiscal Cliff Diving Can Be Hazardous to Housing's Health

11/05/12

The potential consequences include rising interest rates, dropping home values, a resurgence of foreclosures and a dramatic, perhaps generational loss of consumer confidence.

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The QM Rule is Essential for Consumers

11/05/12

Only a strong QM rule can prevent a repeat of the past and protect consumers from the type of risky and irresponsible lending that preceded the foreclosure crisis.

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Banking Goes Sandy Basic, HSBC Prepares to Pay Up

11/05/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Banks Take Back Seat: Well, wide coverage...that'd be the election and the hurricane, of course. The only banking story covered by more than one major paper is HSBC's $800 million additional reserve for its U.S. money laundering case. That brings the tab to $1.5 billion, and it could rise "significantly higher." CEO Stuart Gulliver acknowledged the rising tab and correlated reputational damage. The bank lost money in its European and North American...

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Commercial Products Are Changing - Very, Very Slowly

11/02/12

With financial institutions keeping interest rates lower and fees higher on new commercial hybrid accounts, institutions are, in fact, discouraging commercial clients from switching to their new products.

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OCC Has Interest Rate Risk Under Control

11/02/12

When the OCC took over supervising thrifts, we evaluated the model being used and determined the cost to keep it viable was not justified. Superior interest rate risk models are available from dozens of vendors.

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Citigroup, JPM on TBTF List; FERC Gets Tough

11/02/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Intergalactically Systemic: The list of really, really, waywayway too-big-to-fail banks is out, and Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase are on it. The Financial Stability Board, which is coordinating the international regulatory reform effort for the G20 economies, said Thursday that it had put the two New York banks in an echelon that would subject them to a 2.5% capital surcharge. That means that they would have to maintain common equity equal to 9.5%...

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Congress Should Call for Community Bank Exemption from Basel III

11/02/12

While ICBA supports further study, we hope Congress will come to the conclusion that it should never have been proposed for financial institutions that have no international exposures or are not of a certain size.

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Congress Should Move to Reform Fannie and Freddie

11/01/12

Efforts should clarify recourse risk for originators and underwriters, help realign supply and demand in the housing market and assist homeowners.

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