BankThink

"Community bankers are growing increasingly concerned that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will eliminate one of their bread-and-butter products: balloon loans," writes American Banker's Kate Berry.

A recent court decision held that banks were entitled to the overdraft fees they collected over the years – essentially undermining the insurance companies’ main argument against coverage.

If U.S. know-your-customer rules required banks to identify and scrutinize foreign recipients in addition to the senders of money, other countries would likely return the favor.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have now become the gatekeepers for underwriting qualified mortgages. This guidance might be a safe harbor from litigation, but history indicates it may fail as a safe harbor from risky lending.

Wall Street JournalThe paper gives a status report on the more than 30 private civil suits against 16 large banks over Libor manipulation. Combined with the regulatory fines, these suits could cost the industry tens of billions in the coming years, a law professor says. Interestingly, while some plaintiffs claim lenders were harmed because borrowers paid too little interest as a result of Libor-rigging, others argue borrowers were harmed because they paid too much. And a retired San Francisco cable-car driver says that because the benchmark rate on his adjustable-rate mortgage was artificially low, he's stuck paying an inflated spread over the life of the loan.

Policymakers can shape the Dodd-Frank risk retention requirements in a way that brings private investment back to the multifamily mortgage business. The window of opportunity is short.

Stakeholders have been offered more time from the Federal Reserve Board to weigh in on the proposal that would overhaul the way the U.S. central bank supervises foreign banks operating within the U.S.

A century and a half ago, the National Bank Act was born with a mission to promote a strong, vibrant national banking system. What it created was a dual banking system that has been meeting the changing needs of bank customers ever since.

Take the Federal Housing Administration out of HUD and put it under a commission. A self-funded, independent government corporation would be a major step toward comprehensive housing finance reform.

While lawmakers pulled us back from going over the fiscal cliff in January with a last-minute deal to buy more time, Congress and President Obama still must come up with a $1.2-trillion deficit-reduction package by March 1 to avoid sequestration cuts from kicking in.