BankThink

Editor's note: Morning Scan will not publish on Monday, Feb. 18 in observance of the Presidents Day holiday. We'll be back on Tuesday, Feb. 19.

Labeling a firm "systemically important" will tip the competitive scales one way or the other – to no purpose, since the exercise is premised on a misunderstanding of the 2008 financial crisis.

The attorneys general of eight states are requesting to join three other states in a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Changes to product offerings and pricing give the impression that the new bank does not have the customers' best interests at heart. Feeling undervalued is a key emotional reason they defect.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and two other members of the Senate Banking Committee have spoken out against Republicans who seek to block Richard Cordray's nomination as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Congress is afraid to tackle this complicated and contentious issue, but the market badly needs positive signals from our lawmakers that provide certainty about the future of housing finance.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Jack Lew's Confirmation Hearing: According to the Post, "The questions from the Senate Finance Committee, which is vetting Lew, reflected the widening responsibilities of the Treasury secretary, a role that shapes policy on trade, taxes, economic growth — and now banking regulation." Despite pointed questions about his lucrative work at Citigroup, his Cayman Islands hedge fund investment, etc., "Lew handled the confirmation so smoothly that toward the end of the hearing, Republicans on the committee were conceding that he was all but greenlighted for the job." The headline of the latest Journal editorial subtly hints at the writers' assessment of Lew: "The Rookie." The paper also has a straight news story on the hearing that mostly talks about the fiscal policy stuff.

The oft-mischaracterized HUD disparate impact rule will discourage any race-based decision making and minimize lawsuits. Why would any mortgage lender want to continue a practice with a discriminatory effect but no business objective?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to work with the mortgage industry throughout the year to help lenders comply with the new rules by the 2014 deadline.

Due to continuing struggles within global economies, the interconnected financial framework requires higher levels of capital, liquidity and investments in assets that can objectively be considered safe.