The goal is to meet the financial education needs of everyone in the community — whether it’s the tech-savvy second-grader, the recent high school graduate getting her first checking account or a retiree learning how to stick to a fixed income.

The proposed Small Lender Mutual cooperative would be expensive for small firms to capitalize, and its securities may get inferior pricing compared to those issued by large banks and nonbanks.

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Second Look at Citi: Don't be fooled by Citi's earnings. General consensus among news outlets is that profits may have bested expectations, but relief — more than accolades — is in order. "After two preceding quarters, in which Citi failed to meet already lowered expectations, a revelation of fraud in Mexico and a rejection of Citi's capital-return request by the Federal Reserve, discovering the ball hadn't been yanked away this time was…

As the U.S. and Europe impose sanctions against Russia, western banks are keeping closer tabs on their business dealings in the country. JPMorgan Chase's temporary hold on a Russian Embassy payment and the disruption of VISA services for SMP Bank could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Bankers are kidding themselves if they think bank-like supervision will ultimately catch up with nonbanks. Expect to compete on the current playing field, however uneven it may be.

Breaking News This Morning ... Citi Earnings: Citigroup reported a 4% rise in quarterly profits year-over-year, besting analyst estimates. Similarly to Wells Fargo, however (see below), revenue at Citi fell slightly year-over-year. Wall Street Journal, New York Times Receiving Wide Coverage ... Wells, JPM Earnings, Take Two: A few news outlets are out with second takes on Friday morning's bank earnings. (Quick recap: Wells was up; JPMorgan Chase was down.) "Wells Fargo's ascension punctuates the industry upheaval that…

Overdraft fees can wreak havoc on household finances, but innovations like B of A's SafeBalance account are a big step in the right direction, consumer advocates say.

Breaking News This Morning ...

1Q Earnings: JPMorgan sharply down (NYT, WSJ), Wells Fargo sharply up (NYT, WSJ). Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Fake Bankers?: Bankers were told by regulators on Thursday to upgrade systems in use to protect customer information. The warning involves the Heartbleed security flaw and came from a group of regulators acting as the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, the Times reports. Members include the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of…

Banks are likely to protest new Basel rules that would require them to hold more capital against their exposure to central counterparties, but the standard is necessary to prevent the fast-growing counterparties from becoming "too big to fail."

Regulators look at eight risk categories when determining a bank's health, but it's how banks deal with three in particular — interest rate risk, liquidity risk and IT/operational risk -- that could make or break them.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

A Look Behind the Curtain: The Fed held a video conference in March to discuss whether to ditch its 6.5% unemployment rate target. The Financial Times said the meeting helped shape the Fed's decision later in the month to adjust its position on forward guidance. The policymakers were concerned that their decision would be misunderstood. Meanwhile, Fed officials are worried about persistently low inflation. …

If regulators really want banks to invest more heavily in their communities then they should consider giving banks some reward, such as reduced deposit insurance premiums, for achieving a top CRA rating.

There's drama to come as regulators finalize a proposal requiring banks to self-assess their track records on diversity.

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Tough New Big Bank Requirement: The eight biggest banks in the U.S. may have to add up to a total of $68 billion in capital to meet a new leverage ratio finalized by regulators. Under the rule, banks with more than $700 billion of assets will have to must meet a 5% leverage ratio, and 6% at their federally insured banking units. The ratio, approved by the Office of the Comptroller of…

Care deeply about the price at which you make an investment, whether it's in your own shares or another company's. Don't delude yourself about how great the future will be. And look for empirical evidence that you have an "edge", rather than simply assuming it.