Refi Party Is Over, Mobile Money Party Is Just Beginning

Breaking News This Morning ...

Earnings: Citigroup, M&T, First Republic, Webster

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Refi Party's Over: That seems to be the big takeaway from the JPMorgan and Wells Fargo first-quarter reports that came out Friday, which showed declines in mortgage banking income. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post

Mobile Money: Anglocentric coverage in today's FT. "For prospective employees mobile banking could prove one bright spot for pay and prospects in the sector," says one story. "Retail banks are expecting mobile banking to be the area where the most roles will be created this year, ahead of branch and internet banking." Another article looks at the competitive threat to incumbent U.K. financial institutions from nonbanks selling phone apps, prepaid debit cards, etc. "Banks will have a hard time coming down and playing in this space because of their regulators," a payments industry lawyer tells the FT. Sound familiar?

Wall Street Journal

In a letter to the editor (at the bottom), former FDIC chairman Sheila Bair reiterates her call for simpler measures of bank capital than Basel's (in her view) misleading risk-weights. She adds that the simple leverage ratio U.S. regulators already use needs strengthening.

New York Times

"The Antisocial Network" — Columnist Paul Krugman critiques Bitcoin. (The headline is a jab at the Winklevoss twins, revealed last week to be big investors in the digital currency.) We won't argue with the Princeton economist's objections to Bitcoin's deflationary aspects. But one passage is chilling: "Unlike credit card transactions, which leave a digital trail, bitcoin transactions are designed to be anonymous and untraceable. When you transfer bitcoins to someone else, it's as if you handed over a paper bag filled with $100 bills in a dark alley." Is that really a bad thing, professor?

"Note to New S.E.C. Chief: The Clock Is Ticking" — Before the statute of limitations runs out on mortgage-related frauds, that is. In particular, columnist Gretchen Morgenson suggests, Mary Jo White should look at a whistleblower case alleging SunTrust misrepresented to shareholders its risk from dicey mortgages sold to Fannie and Freddie.