BankThink

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Sins of Financial Crises Past: The year of crisis-era legal reckoning may indeed be upon us. According to the Wall Street Journal, regulators have brokered another settlement with a financial firm over allegations it sold bad mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac leading up to the financial crisis. No, we're not talking about JPMorgan Chase, but Ally Financial, which said on Tuesday it will take a $170 million charge in the third-quarter related to settlements with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. As for JPM and its widely known, but still unresolved, $13 billion mortgage-related settlement, well, that may not happen at all. The Journal reports that, per its anonymice, the settlement is "at risk of collapsing because of disagreements related to a criminal probe of the bank and its effort to get penalties reimbursed by a government-controlled fund." We're going to echo The Guardian's Heidi Moore here and say that it may be best, at this point, given all the twists and turns, not to talk about the JPM deal until, you know, it's actually a done one. Meanwhile, across the pond, regulatory relations aren't much better. Following a string of disclosures regarding future legal problems from foreign banks during earnings season, Dealbook concludes: "European banks still face years of effort and billions of dollars in legal charges before they can restore their reputations and reconcile accusations of past wrongdoing." This FT column notes: "The bad news for the sector … is that the regulatory storm shows no sign of abating." Case in point: Barclays announced on Wednesday it was reviewing its foreign exchange trading operations after receiving inquiries related to an ongoing probe of currency market manipulation from global regulators.

If CSR efforts are allowed to fall by the wayside, it will be at the expense of customer trust and future growth.

At the annual Mortgage Bankers Association conference in Washington, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said lenders' concerns about meeting the new mortgage rules are warranted, but they should not worry over legal protections in complying with the regulations.

Mobile banking can alleviate friction and save time for underserved, low-income consumers, but face-to-face interaction is critical to serving their financial needs.

It should be a human resources department’s responsibility to spot poor leadership qualities, flawed compensation programs and workforces ill equipped to handle a crisis.

Breaking News This Morning ...Rabobank CEO to Resign: Anonymice tell the Journal that Rabobank CEO Piet Moerland is poised to step down Tuesday as the bank reaches a $1 billion settlement with global regulators over rate-rigging allegations. The expected settlement would be the second largest Libor settlement to date, behind UBS's $1.5 billion agreement last December.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new remittance rule has caused lenders to argue for months, wondering if the rule would cause rates of international wire transfers to increase.

Given her philosophy, Janet Yellen is likely to continue the Federal Reserve’s highly accommodative monetary policy as chairman. That is worrisome.

It was a sad day in America's news media this year when reporters across the country completely overlooked the fact Congress opted to commemorate International Credit Union Day two weeks ago by ending the government shutdown.

The theme of our 2013 Annual Meeting and Convention-being held this week in San Francisco-is REACH.