BankThink

After the past few years, it's hard to believe that anyone wouldn't be looking forward to a new year and a new start, and yet for some, 2013 is a couple of Zantacs past trepidation.

Roger A. Licht, president of Credit Union One, on union workers' need to grow up.

The $2.1-million fraud at United Catholic Credit Union (CU Journal, Dec. 7) should raise questions about the two tier examination process.

How do credit unions continue to operate effectively and efficiently and serve your members well with the mounting compliance burden?

In 2013 many credit unions will continue a growing trend by transitioning from larger, more traditional branches to smaller, more efficient locations.

In the current challenging economic climate, with financial institution retail branch transactions falling (40.2%) and payroll costs rising (76.1%) over the past two decades, credit union CFOs will be searching even harder in 2013 for ways to improve their bottom lines.

Breaking News This Morning ...B of A Settles with Fannie: B of A has agreed to pay $10.3 billion to settle claims that it sold bad loans to Fannie Mae. Under the terms of the settlement, the bank will pay Fannie $3.6 billion, and will also spend $6.75 billion buying back mortgages from the housing giant at a discount to their original value. The settlement is likely to wipe out B of A's earnings for the quarter, the FT reports. New York Times, Wall Street Journal

Make sure each of your bank's initiatives is explicitly designed to eliminate uncertainties as rapidly as possible so any failures are small, quick and survivable rather than interminable and deadly.

It's a truism among financial institutions that not all revenue is created equal: some revenue costs a lot more to produce. Yet among many organizations, the exact costs related to specific revenue remain a mystery.

Regulators are expected to finalize many rules in 2013. The financial industry could see an overflow of final regulations, many of which are mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act.