BankThink

Receiving Wide Coverage ... It's the Principle of the Matter: The Federal Housing Finance Agency caused a stir when it went against the Treasury Department's wishes and ruled principal reductions would not be awarded to struggling borrowers whose loans are owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco ultimately cited moral hazard, maintaining a small number of strategic defaults on mortgages would wind up hurting taxpayers. In a written rebuttal, U.S. Treasury...

This is no time to start unwinding the largest banks. There's enough uncertainty in this fragile economy. But starting a conversation now about the costs and benefits will lay the groundwork for sound action when conditions improve.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Eye on Central Banks: The European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve are set to meet this week in an effort to bolster the flagging global economy. According to the Journal, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will focus on how to spur enough economic growth in the U.S. to drive down unemployment, while ECB head Mario Draghi needs to address growing concerns that countries will abandon the euro. The Journal says there's a...

A majority of BankThink posts dedicated to risk assessment focus on tools, systems, agencies or legislation. Rarely do we talk about the people hired to implement them. Do you believe in risk managers?

In a society where blatant expressions of discrimination are largely considered to be unacceptable, discrimination often takes on subtler and more insidious forms.