BankThink

You can't write or say anything about Dodd-Frank these days without being accused of taking sides.

You can't write or say anything about Dodd-Frank these days without being accused of taking sides.

If housing continues to show signs of stabilization, it is possible that the FHA's mortgage insurance fund will not require a bailout. The agency's been smart lately, but also lucky.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Banished: The U.K.'s Financial Services Authority has banned former head of corporate lending at HBOS Peter Cummings from working in the country's financial services industry for his role in the bank's collapse during the 2008 financial crisis. Cummings was also fined £500,000 ($805,000), which the Journal notes is "the highest fine imposed by the FSA on a senior executive for management failings." The FSA imposed the penalties because it believes Cummings "pursued an aggressive expansion of HBOS's lending practices, which led to major losses," the Times reports. HBOS was ultimately purchased by Lloyds TBS as a part of a rescue takeover in 2008 and the merged banks received a big bailout from the British government shortly thereafter.

Former FDIC chairman William Isaac and former Wells Fargo CEO Richard Kovacevich argue that had Dodd-Frank been in place before the mortgage crisis, the legislation would not have prevented it. What was really at lacking, they said in a CNBC interview, was regulatory leadership.

The courts' indecision as to whether whistle-blowers who report wrongdoing internally are protected by Dodd-Frank sends one clear message: Come forward at your own risk.

Regulators have a legitimate interest in overseeing activities that threaten a bank. But they should lay off bank affiliates and activities that pose no such threats.

"No financial institution's collapse could sink our economy"? Funny. "To accord nonbanks parity with banks, just regulate nonbanks more strictly"? Hilarious. But here's a real howler: "We have to go on subsidizing home building and financing."

The mother of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau spent much of her recent prime-time performance accusing banks of dishonesty. Perhaps she should take a gander in the mirror.

With consumer mobile access for banking channels and services growing, loosening privacy data rules may be the edge needed to combat fraud.