BankThink

Thirteen members of the House Financial Services Committee wrote to Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, asking for details in the agency's investigation into discriminatory auto lending.

Among other problems, Goldman never mentions that one big reason it survived and thrived is that the bailout of AIG enabled it to repay Goldman and other counterparties at par.

Banks that develop strong, personalized relationships with small business owners will generate mutual sustained value.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Sallie Mae to Split in Two: The FT emphasizes the growth prospects of the banking and private student loan business that will be separated from the legacy government-backed loan servicing operation. The Times plays up the context of rising student loan defaults and tightening regulatory scrutiny. The Journal plays it pretty straight. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times

Public officials talk as if facilitating anonymous financial transactions is in itself somehow nefarious. But there are legitimate reasons to keep online purchases and other activity private.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who was confirmed in February, repeated his commitment to completing the remaining rules of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The crackdown on Liberty Reserve underscores the importance of regulatory expertise to digital currency startups. No wonder Liberty City Ventures (no relation to the indicted company) retained former Treasury officials as advisors.

The U.K. Help to Buy guarantee program provides a good example of how a private-public risk-sharing arrangement could be structured among mortgage insurers, lenders and the government.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Laundering Charged: The creators of Liberty Reserve, a cross-border virtual currency exchange, have been arrested and charged with laundering $6 billion. That's "what prosecutors believe to be the largest online money-laundering case in history," the Times reports, with the word "online" being key. $6 billion is 0.9% of what HSBC allegedly failed to control the transmission of between 2006 and 2009, leading to a $1.9 billion fine.

Regulators, legislators, bankers, and the public should do everything they can so that Title I of Dodd-Frank works. The goal is to avoid Title II – orderly liquidation – at all cost.