BankThink

I was reminded recently that the origin of the term vigilante stemmed from the vigilance committees formed in our nation's early days on the frontier where official law enforcement was either weak or nonexistent. They were established for the purpose of providing an environment where law abiding folks could be protected from the law breakers. Vigilance committees were noble and well-intentioned, but often quickly deteriorated into mobs and were characterized by outbreaks of mob rule.

First the Republicans pass a bill they must know had zero chance of enactment, misleadingly claiming it will cut the deficit. Even more absurdly, they then compare the Office of Financial Research to Big Brother.

Particularly vexing is one bank’s requirement that cardholders sign up for a payment protection service before receiving materials describing it. Hawaii deserves praise for protecting residents from these questionable practices.

Breaking News This Morning ...Earnings: Bank of America, BB&T, Fifth Third, First Horizon, KeyCorp, TCF Financial

In October of last year the acting chairman of the FDIC said at the annual ABA meeting, "the FDIC is going to undertake a number in initiatives to further our understanding of the challenges and opportunities for community banks."

Citigroup's shareholders have latched onto what was formerly a radical idea. Namely, that CEOs like Vikram Pandit should receive gigantic pay packages tied to performance only after they've actually performed. Wall Street bosses beware.

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon rule on a case of far-reaching importance for any party affected by a Chapter 11 plan in a business bankruptcy case. At stake is the longstanding expectation of secured lenders that they'll either be repaid or permitted to take their collateral by means of a credit bid; in other words, paying for the collateral with their lien.

Breaking News This Morning ...Earnings: Bank of New York Mellon, PNC, First Republic, New York Community

We are in danger of a harmful proposal, which could be implemented this week. The proposal by the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service would require all banks located within the United States to report interest payments made to nonresident alien depositors. The IRS in turn would exchange this information with foreign governments for data about Americans in those countries.

The GSE could have approved a short sale that would have let Louise Davidson stay in her home as a renter and eventually have the opportunity to buy it back. True to form, Fannie evicted her instead.