BankThink

You don't need to look far in credit unions for an example, beginning with the words "credit union."

Is it time to decouple the "M" in CAMEL ratings from the other components of CAMEL?

Today overdrafts (OD) are big business and tens of millions of users view ODs as both another checking operating cost and a safety net to help manage their financial affairs.

Mike Parsons, president and CEO of First Source Federal Credit Union and NAFCU Chair, discusses why credit unions should get involved.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...AIG Stock for Sale: The Treasury Department announced on Sunday that it is getting ready to sell $18 billion of the stock it purchased in American International Group during the controversial 2008 bailout of the insurance firm. The sale is expected to reduce the federal government — or, as the FT notes, "the U.S. taxpayer" — to a minority shareholder in the company for the first time since the financial crisis. According to the Times, the Treasury could reduce its holdings from 53% to as little as 15%, a move that marks "the realization of a long-held goal by both the Obama administration and the company." The Journal was quick to note this sale "could raise questions about timing, coming less than two months before a closely contested presidential election," though the Treasury was just as quick to tell the paper the unwinding of AIG has nothing to do with the political season.

The inclusion of secondary capital as part of credit unions' net worth would give them yet another unfair regulatory advantage over banks.

Cashmere Valley Bank in Washington State is a case study of a small bank grappling with the regulatory uncertainties of Dodd-Frank implementation. And it is one of many banks that have looked outside its own IT department for help.

Under pressure from a regulator solely focused on protecting the consumers' financial interest, many banks have started abandoning suspect practices. Let’s keep it that way.

The Financial Stability Board has set a March deadline for financial companies to have "legal entity identifiers," in place for use in transactions. These codes, something like a social security number for banks, are to be used by the Office of Financial Research, created by Dodd-Frank, to spot systemic risk.

Rep. Barney Frank blasted Mitt Romney, who has said he would repeal the Dodd-Frank Act, at a speech in Charlotte, reports American Banker’s Kevin Wack.