BankThink

Yes, Subprime Crisis Was Government's Fault

08/22/12

The effects of a loose monetary policy were compounded by housing policy - not just the "affordable" housing goals set for Fannie and Freddie but also CRA quotas imposed on banks.

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Candidates to Replace Libor Are Lackluster

08/21/12

Central bank policy rates, overnight unsecured borrowing rates, commercial paper rates, Treasury bills and repo rates all would be open to potential manipulation, just like Libor.

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Federal Charter for Nonbanks Would Be Good News for Small Banks

08/21/12

A federal charter for National Consumer Credit Corporations could help community bankers serve (and profit off) low-to-moderate-income consumers.

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Brokerage Firm Auditors Fail Their Audit, Nobody Knows the Definition of Subprime

08/21/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Auditors Disappoint: Initial audits of the auditors who inspect the financial statements of brokerage firms didn't go so well. In a report issued on Monday, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said it found deficiencies in all 23 of the broker-dealer audits from the 10 firms it reviewed as part of new duties allocated by Dodd-Frank. The Journal says two firms didn't adhere to Securities and Exchange Commission rules requiring independence among...

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Mortgage Industry's Need for Speed Played Big Role in Crisis

08/20/12

Technologies like automated underwriting held great promise to manage risk while easing the pain of the mortgage experience for borrowers. But a lack of discipline ushered in an environment where simple rules decide who obtains credit.

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Standard Chartered's Next Monitor Must Be Independent

08/20/12

Standard Chartered agreed last week to pay the New York Department of Financial Services $340 million to settle allegations of illegal Iran-related transactions. But that settlement comes with strings.

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British Lawmakers Call Barclays' Culture 'Deeply Flawed,' JPMorgan Picks Probe Leader

08/20/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Barclays Branded a Big Disgrace: Newly-minted Barclays Chairman David Walker has got a pretty tough job on his hands when it comes to revamping his bank's image. A new report from British lawmakers calls Barclays' steps towards rigging the London Interbank offered rate "disgraceful," says CNN. It also suggests the Libor scandal stemmed from a "deeply flawed culture" at the bank and was not simply the actions of a "small group of...

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Listen to Your Bank's Regulators Now, Don't Fight Them Later

08/20/12

A mutually respectful relationship may prove superior to efforts of companies that hampered their regulators while engaging in risky practices that brought them to ruin.

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Make Megabanks Compartmentalize Themselves. The Rest's Up to Them

08/17/12

If very different lines of business are walled off from one another, conflicts of interest and risk can be mitigated without losing any of the benefits of one-stop banking.

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Fannie and Freddie No Longer Have to Borrow from the Government to Pay the Government

08/17/12

Breaking News This Morning ...

The Long and Winding Road: Four years after the government bailout of Fannie and Freddie, the Treasury is restructuring the terms of its investment in the beleaguered behemoths of housing. Instead of a mandatory 10% quarterly dividend, an arrangement which at times has forced the GSEs to borrow more from the government to pay the government, the Treasury will now capture any and all profits they generate. When Fannie and Freddie...

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