BankThink

Say Good Riddance to HSBC

07/30/12

A Congressional investigation found HSBC engaged in money laundering and sanctions busting for ten years, in multibillion-dollar amounts. Perhaps not coincidentally, the bank has been disinvesting from the U.S. Let's invite them to complete their departure-fast.

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A Bummer Party for SOX, As Libor Party Gets Messier

07/30/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Happy Birthday, Dear SOX: Remember that big financial law that came between the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Dodd-Frank Act? Policymakers and pundits have spent so much time lately debating whether to roll back those two laws that we (I'll omit the auditing department from this blanket reference) have forgotten the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that was supposed to clean up auditing conflicts, public disclosures and do other things to renew our faith in public...

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Editor's Note

07/27/12

Several BankThink opinion columns written by Joel Sucher, published between October 2011 and June 2012, mentioned the law firm of Stephen J. Baum, Litton Loan Servicing, or both. The columns should have disclosed that Baum's firm, working on behalf of Litton, had attempted to foreclose on the writer's property in 2009. American Banker's editors were unaware of this history at the time the columns were published....

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Here's Why the Visa/MasterCard Swipe Fee Agreement Will Fail

07/27/12

If the agreement is approved, any merchant who has accepted Visa or MasterCard since 2004 will be unable to sue regarding interchange, network rules, merchant fees and related issues, even if that merchant is not receiving funds from the settlement.

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Barclays Goes for the Gold Medal in Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Months

07/27/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Barclays' Baggage: Things just aren't getting better this month for Libor-gate poster child Barclays, which this morning reported a 76% year-over-year drop in profit for the first six months of 2012 and revealed that nope, it's not leaving the harsh spotlight at the center of the bank-scandal stage anytime soon. ...

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Customers Want Free Checking, But Will Pay for Frills

07/27/12

While customers resent paying fees for traditional banking services, they are receptive to paying fees for emerging services that support their financial lifestyles.

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Anti-Money-Laundering Enforcement Gets Tougher and Smarter

07/26/12

As the HSBC hearings demonstrate, there's a growing expectation that individuals, not just institutions, will be held accountable. Recent enforcement actions also show a more risk-based, rather than rules-based, approach.

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Why Lift Lending Cap? Credit Unions Can Skirt It Anyway

07/26/12

Navy Federal's strategy gives everyone else in the industry yet another way to get around the cap. Puzzlingly, some credit unions relentlessly press for legislation.

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Why Reinvent the Wheel to Comply with New Derivative Rules?

07/26/12

For many, it is more beneficial to take advantage of mechanisms that are integral to the fabric of the company and of the financial ecosystem, as a way to achieve compliance and maximize investments in current foundations.

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That's Like Victor Frankenstein Saying, 'A Monster Was Created,' Sandy

07/26/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Weill's Bombshell: "I am suggesting that [large, diversified financial companies] be broken up so that the taxpayer will never be at risk, the depositors won't be at risk." That is what Sandy Weill, the man who assembled the quintessential Frankenbank, said on CNBC Wednesday morning, causing finance and media professionals around the world to gasp, spit out their coffee, and/or utter things like "whoa" or "holy mackerel" or other, unprintable expressions. And...

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