Even if the U.S. government eases enforcement against banks processing wire transfers to developing countries, lawsuits brought by the plaintiffs' bar under the Anti-Terrorism Act may make banks continue to avoid providing remittance services to needy communities.
Equal-opportunity small business lending can go a long way toward helping minority groups rebuild the wealth lost during the Great Recession. The CFPB has delayed implementing reporting requirements that could close the credit gap for far too long.
A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including a proposal to regulate banks based on their activities rather than size and a plea for members of Congress to take action to help community banks.
The growing popularity of impact investing has led to a raft of new disclosure rules. The problem is that using the SEC to monitor companies' CEO pay policies and use of "conflict minerals" decouples the government agency's authority from its area of jurisdiction.
Risk-based premiums should apply to big banks as well as small ones. That's because the assessment would have an immediate impact on big banks' quarterly profits, thereby appropriately charging them for the competitive advantage and privilege afforded by their size.
Determining regulatory requirements based on banksÂ' activities rather than their size would liberate old-school institutions from unnecessary burdens without endangering the financial system.
A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the need to hold bankers accountable for criminal deeds and whether the FDIC's proposed recordkeeping requirement is smart planning or pointless.
The FDIC is proposing a complicated and expensive record-keeping requirement to prepare for the unlikely event that it liquidates a large failed institution instead of transferring its deposits to another bank.
Some argue that nonbank mortgage lenders' rising market share poses a risk to the financial system. But this belief arises from an inaccurate understanding of what is in fact a well-regulated sector.
