BankThink

In light of the complexity of today's financial environment, it's time to move to the next level. Enterprise risk management (ERM) is coming fast. Are you prepared?

Believe it or not, this is the perfect time for credit unions that have sold their credit card portfolios to reenter the business.

Over at Reuters, Felix Salmon is touting another kinder, gentler version of overdraft protection that he says is standard in the U.K. There are no fees, just daily interest on the overdrawn amount. Salmon says U.K. banks treat this as a "negative balance" on customers' checking accounts. As a result, if you deposit more than that amount into your account, the overdraft automatically disappears.

Does overdraft protection have to be an all-or-nothing proposition?

An unprecedented rise in enforcement actions against banks has caught even longtime industry observers off guard.

NCUA Chairman Deborah Matz has spent the past few months leading Town Halls across the country and online. Matz has referred to it as a "listening tour." Credit unions have been happy to oblige with an earful.

A recent report makes the assertion that "by 2013, the cost of regulatory compliance and risk management will have priced Tier 3 and Tier 4 financial institutions out of the market." However, this Compliance Tax can be addressed, and I believe the solution is found in technology.

A Gallup Poll conducted last June revealed that only 22% of Americans have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in banks. And they have even less faith in the people who run them.

There are plenty of stories about people changing careers when their jobs in finance disappeared. But according to LinkedIn, the social networking Web site, people who transitioned to other industries were the exception. Most stayed in the financial space.

While the Obama administration has punted into next year any decision on how to reform the housing finance giants, there's no shortage of opinion about what should be done.