BankThink

Currently there is a significant disparity between small privately held businesses' strong need for credit, which is unmet, and lender's enthusiastic willingness to give credit to large companies, few of which are seeking credit.

Over and over we heard at the Milken Institute Global Conference that there's a "clog in the transmission mechanism" of the economy.

I recently introduced the MasterCard Mobile Payments Readiness Index to a group of c-level bankers, and told them that one of our top-level findings is that it's the early days for mobile payments.

In the aftermath of the crisis, Congress keeps piling on rules to enforce, without proportionately increasing the number or competence of examiners. Is it any wonder overstretched supervisors never asked, "What if home prices stop going up?"

"We have touted ourselves for more than 75 years as being cooperative," observed Troy Smith. "But the one thing we have always been lousy at doing is being collaborative." And standing there at the intersection of Lousy and Overlooked right now are five words, according to Hall: "Everyday is Bank Transfer Day."

Most of us are extremely busy. Another program or project isn't exactly an exciting proposition, especially a project with an ambiguous name like Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), otherwise known to consultants as "billable hours" and to regulators as a "finding."

Credit unions' century-old principles of mutual self-help are just as relevant today as they ever were. And credit unions' overwhelming support has shown that the corporate model of cooperation is clearly relevant, too.

Megabank CEOs want the Fed to disclose more about its stress test models. They can show good faith by supporting the international effort to make global counterparty risk transparent.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Europe: The euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar since January this morning, and the continent's equity and bond markets sold off, following elections in France and Greece in which voters repudiated incumbents' fiscal austerity policies. The Journal reports that European banks "are increasingly hoarding their cash at central banks, anxious the continent's crisis could intensify." According to the Times, two of Spain's healthiest banks, Santander and BBVA (both owners of significant retail banks here in the U.S.) are resisting a government plan to bail out their country's financial sector by creating a "bad bank" to acquire toxic assets. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Treasury's Bad-News Blog: How do you get out word that you're throwing in the towel on the Troubled Asset Relief Program and conceding that unloading stakes in hundreds of bailed-out small banks is going to cost taxpayers real money? In the case of the U.S. Treasury, the answer as of yesterday was to get an underling to blog about it. The federal agency let word fly Thursday that most of the small banks bailed out by Uncle Sam during the financial crisis likely will not be able to repay the Treasury Department—something the Financial Times described with terms like "conceded" and "admission." In contrast to the government's profitable investments in big banks—including Citigroup (NYSE:C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS)—it has received back only $8.5 billion of the $15 billion invested in smaller institutions, the FT notes. Its new strategy for recouping losses: "Make it the private sector's problem," according to the New York Times. Until now, small banks looking to exit Tarp did so by trying to raise outside capital. However, the 343 banks that remain mired in Tarp are finding ever fewer willing investors. As a result, the Treasury does not expect the majority that are still partly owned by American taxpayers to manage in the next 12 to 18 months to repurchase the preferred stock that Treasury received in exchange for bailing them out. Enter Plan B. It started with recent public auctions, essentially test-runs, when Treasury sold preferred stock in six banks to private investors. As part of its new-and-improved divestment strategy, Treasury will pursue restructurings and sales of its holdings, including combining ownership stakes in various banks into pools that will be sold as securities. Treasury does not expect to recoup the face value of its investments; it has already reduced the value of many of its holdings to below par. "The government shouldn't be in the business of owning stakes in private companies for an indefinite period of time," blogged Timothy G. Massad, assistant Treasury secretary for financial stability. "Replacing temporary government support with private capital is an important part of continuing to restore financial stability." Financial Times, New York Times, American Banker