BankThink

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Beyond Basel: U.S. regulators proposed Tuesday that the nation's biggest banks adhere to a 5% leverage ratio with their FDIC-insured bank subsidiaries subject to a 6% ratio, double the requirement set by Basel III. The Journal calls the proposal "the first in a series of steps regulators plan to take to address ongoing concerns that banks remain so large, complex and interconnected that they could require another government bailout in the event of a future crisis." The FT notes "the U.S. plan could refocus pressure on other jurisdictions where banks continue to operate with relatively low leverage ratios." Several news outlets cite a Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysis that shows only two of the eight firms affected by the U.S. proposal — Bank of America and Wells Fargo — currently meet the new threshold. Under the plan, banks facing capital shortfalls "have until the end of 2017 to comply with the higher requirements," the Times reports, but the article notes regulators' "latest push could meet fierce resistance, however." In fact, the proposal has already garnered criticism. "On one side are some top regulators, including Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig, and some lawmakers on Capitol Hill who argue the plan does not go far enough," reports American Banker's Donna Borak. "On the other are bankers and their representatives who contend the proposal is excessive."

By smoothening the credit cycle, macroprudential regulation can temper the major problems with the growth model of the past 30-odd years: the tendency toward excessive credit growth, booms and busts.

In the age of big data and social connectivity, it is essential, and now urgent, for card marketers to find a way to become more consumer-centric in their marketing efforts.

The House passed two financial services bills on Monday, the Audit Integrity and Job Protection Act and the Financial Competitive Act of 2013.

A recent flurry of directives indicates the Basel Committee is committed to establishing uniform, international capital standards that improve the safety and soundness of large, interconnected banks.

We need to encourage private lenders to return to the market. Until that occurs, the FHA will need to fill the gap.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Eye on Auditors: You know it's a slow day in the U.S. banking world when the only story that qualifies as "receiving wide coverage" is about proposed legislation that would prevent the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board from forcing companies to periodically rotate their auditors. Late Monday, the House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would block the PCAOB from requiring companies to change auditors — an idea that was first proposed by the agency's chairman, James Doty, in 2011. The House vote is a victory for public companies, which have long argued that mandatory auditor rotation would not improve quality because it takes years for auditors to fully understand the companies they cover. The bill's sponsors said the legislation was meant to send a message to European regulators, who are considering auditor term limits. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times

After a weeklong holiday recess, the House and Senate banking panels kick-off the week with several hearings on the Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The mainstream press remains an important component of the broad conversations taking place around your brand.

Beginning with the first U.S. credit union in 1909 to the present, credit unions have always had a strong, resilient spirit. More than 100 years later, we are now an industry serving 95 million members nationwide.