BankThink

Fair Value Accounting for Realty Assets Stifles Small Banks

06/19/12

Relief from fair value accounting is essential for community banks to survive and ultimately thrive in today's economic climate. Fortunately, legislation before Congress would untether regulatory accounting practices from GAAP.

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Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Bankers

06/19/12

There are fewer opportunities for upward mobility, and it's likely that the bank you go to work for will soon be merged out of existence. Is this the kind of environment that attracts the best and brightest?

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Models Like VaR Only as Good as Risk Managers' Imaginations

06/18/12

Risk management is fundamentally a social science built on market data that sometimes misbehaves. The models are fed by crucial assumptions about the likelihood of different market outcomes.

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5 Things House Lawmakers Should Avoid at the Dimon Hearing

06/18/12

Among other things, House lawmakers shouldn't tell Jamie Dimon how awesome he is (he already knows) and shouldn't suggest over-regulation caused the $2 billion-plus loss at the bank. To find out the worst thing they could do, however, read on.

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Make the CFPB a Good Cop

06/18/12

We finally have a regulator with no mandate to preserve banks' image. To protect consumers, the CFPB must assure that those who cheat them are punished. New rules won't help if we don't enforce the old ones.

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Who Really Wins When Government Controls Prices?

06/15/12

Home Depot told shareholders that interchange price controls would add "$35 million a year" to the company's bottom line. Why should consumers now believe the company has chosen not to keep these newfound gains for itself?

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Should Banks Disclose the Fees They Don't Charge?

06/15/12

If a bank doesn't disclose what it's not charging, someone might assume it is charging that fee without disclosing. Pew Charitable Trusts made that assumption, and says consumers could too.

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Credit Bureaus Should Be Regulated Like Utilities

06/15/12

We need a system in which credit bureaus are required to sell consumer data at a uniform price to any company with permission to access it, instead of pricing out perceived competitive threats or withholding the information.

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Lawmakers Need to Cut Regulators Some Slack on Dodd-Frank Implementation

06/14/12

The constant criticism from Congress just makes the rulemaking process longer without adding much to the debate.

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Want To Make Risky Trades with No Brakes? Go To London

06/14/12

We need stronger cross-border regulatory enforcement to spot U.S firms going to London for looser rules. Guess what MF Global, Lehman, AIG and the London Whale have in common.

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