People who lack easy and affordable access to traditional bank accounts can benefit from cryptocurrency services that allow them save on remittance fees, pay bills on time and stay liquid.

Lenders are working to meet affordable housing needs by extending mortgages to borrowers with a broader range of credit scores and offering loans with lower down payments. But there's still more work to be done, according to Fannie Mae's Jeffery Hayward and Anne McCulloch.

Breaking News This Morning ... CIT Buying OneWest for $3.4 Billion: "CIT Group Inc., the business lender led by Wall Street veteran John Thain, said Tuesday it had reached a deal to buy the parent company of OneWest Bank NA for $3.4 billion, a move Mr. Thain called 'transformational.' " Wall Street Journal, New York Times Receiving Wide Coverage ... …

Dodd-Frank encourages the pursuit of financial stability at the expense of economic growth. Congress can fix the problem by amending the law so that regulators are required to balance both goals, writes Paul H. Kupiec of the American Enterprise Institute.

Decisions about how to apply U.S. swaps trading rules abroad should be based less on fears of risk to the financial system and more on considerations of market integrity, according to attorney Timothy Karpoff.

Wall Street Journal New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman isn't alone in his concerns about Barclays' dark pool activities. Trading firms including RBC Capital Markets and T. Rowe Price Group worried in the months before Schneiderman sued Barclays that their orders were getting subpar treatment on the dark pool because of high-frequency traders. What's more, "a number of Barclays employees privately expressed concerns to top stock-trading executives that the firm was giving high-frequency traders too much…

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

Internal documents reveal that the crackdown is targeting banks, not merchants and processors, because it requires less investigation into the facts. That should anger all Americans who care about due process and the rule of law, writes ex-FDIC Chairman Bill Isaac.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Return to Stability: Gains in wealth management and investment banking helped Morgan Stanley nearly double its profit in the second quarter. The papers played up how the bank has focused on stable businesses while relying less on fixed income. The Wall Street Journal said Morgan Stanley has largely shrugged off" bond trading declines that have hurt other firms. The New York Times said the bank has proved skeptics wrong that it could…

Trust-preferred creditors have forced two indebted bank holding companies into involuntary bankruptcy this summer. Secured lenders may soon follow their lead and start foreclosing on bank stock collateral.

A recent article by Thad Woodard proposed slashing the number of Federal Home Loan Banks in order to free up funds for community lending. But the Home Loan Banks' member institutions are already empowered to push for consolidation any time they choose, writes the FHLBanks' Steven F. Rosenbaum.

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Deal or No Deal: Bank of America and the Justice Department are at odds over how much the Charlotte, N.C., bank should pay to settle charges that it sold shoddy mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. According to the Wall Street Journal, DOJ lawyers rebuffed B of A's offer to pay $13 billion in cash and consumer relief in a Tuesday meeting. The Financial Times' sources say Bank of…

Startups that focus on person-to-person payments or peer-to-peer lending may well be the future heavyweights of the financial services industry. Banks must either band together to create viable alternatives or risk losing relevance.

Even activities permitted under the Volcker Rule may not be worth the legal and compliance costs for small and midsize banks, according to three attorneys at Bass, Berry & Sims.

Breaking News This Morning ... Earnings: Bank of America, PNC, US Bancorp Receiving Wide Coverage ... Yellen Ties Labor Market, Rate Hikes: Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen told the Senate Banking Committee the improving employment picture could lead to interest rate hikes. The Washington Post led with her views on the labor market, although it also mentioned the Fed's plans to continue to cut back on its bond purchases and how that affects interest rates and the…