BankThink

In the Queensland region of Australia members of Maleny Credit Union have nixed a merger their own board had "unanimously decided" was the "best outcome for members."

As we say in New York, the new agency is going to be a first-class “noodge” – pushing and cajoling the industry to simplify, clarify and and modify some of its practices.

Sony already facing many lawsuits over its massive data breach, is now being sued by one of its insurers.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Contemplating Disaster: Regulators are giving banks scant guidance on how to deal with a possible government default or downgrade, the Journal reports this morning. The big banks "are spending hundreds of hours on contingency planning scenarios," the article says. But without certain answers, it's hard to plan. For instance, "Fed officials haven't said if their collateral requirements would change after a default, which would affect banks' ability to borrow from the central bank's discount window." Indeed, "several bankers said they have been surprised how little federal regulators have been prodding them for details of their plans. [Italics added by Morning Scan.] Federal regulators are most likely trying to take a hands-off approach to avoid promoting a panic." On the bright side, the lead story in the Journal reports that Obama and Boehner are close to a budget deal, so maybe this whole exercise will turn out like Y2K. Maybe.

Recent articles assert that banks will benefit if a director is confirmed for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That's wrong.

At the eleventh hour, only days before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opens, President Barack Obama officially nominated Richard Cordray to serve as director of the CFPB. But the appointment still requires Senate confirmation, and that will take time.

The arrests of 16 suspected members of the hacking group Anonymous may drive more people to the group's cause.

The Small Business Jobs Act set aside a $30 billion fund designed for smaller banks to lend to small business owners when it passed last September.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Dodd-Frank Birthday Bash(ing): The retrospectives keep coming. For those who've been living in a cave for the last few months, the Journal reports that whether the law ended "too big to fail" is a matter of debate. Meanwhile the Times' Dealbook interviews Barney Frank and (for the hibernators' benefit) provides a quick summary of bankers' objections to the law. Here's Frank's response to criticisms that the law is too vague: "It's precisely because we knew we couldn't get everything exactly right that we did leave room for the regulators." Why didn't the Times sit down with both authors of the legislation together? "Now that Mr. Dodd is a registered lobbyist representing the motion picture industry, federal law prohibits the two men from chatting about their law for a year." Onward and upward: today Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will appear before the Senate Banking Committee to give a status report on his agency's work putting Dodd-Frank's many provisions into practice. You can read the Journal's summary of his prepared testimony, or the whole thing here but as always the unscripted Q&A will be the most interesting part.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established by the Dodd-Frank Act will open its doors on July 21. The new bureau will have broad responsibility for enforcing a wide range of laws against people and companies that provide financial products and services.