BankThink

We need more and bigger black-owned banks, not just a surge of deposits for a few institutions, especially if those institutions have not proven that they adequately serve the black community.

Any method for unwinding too-big-to-fail institutions that tries to avoid bailouts is a fool's errand. A more effective path may be reducing the size of TBTF banks or regulating them as utilities.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Too friendly?: Jay Clayton, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, "is expected to end the streak of aggressive regulators and litigators overseeing the country's top markets," the Wall Street Journal reports, describing Clayton in the headline as "a 180" from the outgoing chair Mary Jo White. The nomination of Clayton, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell who has represented the likes of Goldman Sachs and Barclays, "signals Republicans prefer an SEC chairman who is attuned to the needs of Wall Street firms," the Journal added. That contrasts with the record of White, "a former prosecutor who presided over the SEC in a period when the agency collected record amounts of penalties and disgorged profits from wrongdoers." Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post, American Banker

Traditional checking hasn't faded nearly as fast as original predictions at the dawn of online banking. Checks will remain a major part of payments, though there are some signs of an eventual decline.

Almost 40 years ago, a rock music legend asked a question that too many banks are failing to address today.

The current single-director leadership structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is not a recipe for transparency and accountability. Creating a multimember commission to oversee the agency is the answer.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Bitcoin boost: While the Dow Jones Industrial Average struggles to reach the 20,000 mark, a different financial milestone was hit on New Year's Day. On Sunday bitcoin broke through the $1,000 mark for the first time, and kept climbing to $1,022 on Tuesday. The digital currency gained about 123% in value in 2016, due to global uncertainty and inflation fears. "The currency had faded from the public eye through early 2016 as prices stalled and traders battled about the structure of the approximately eight-year old market," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Now, with trading volumes rising sharply and some countries such as India making large cash payments more difficult, higher demand has pushed the bitcoin price up." Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post

China isn't living up to promises to open its card market, a shortcoming the incoming Trump administration should remember when forging trade policies.

American Banker is pleased to bring you Breaking Banks, hosted by Brett King, and featuring the editors of American Banker.

Proponents of "recap and release" misread the political risks and the depth of interest that key lawmakers have in determining the long-term future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.