BankThink

Requiring brokers to come clean with customers about conflicts of interest sounds like an easy way to address biases. But disclosures are only effective if recipients understand how the conflict has influenced the advisor and have a way to correct that influence.

Barclays' McFarlane Plans Long Ride; Fifth Third's New Chief

QR codes, a relatively old technology, are back in the spotlight thanks to a consortium of retailers led by Walmart and Target that plan to use the codes in their CurrentC payment technology.

As technological problems forced the New York Stock Exchange to grind to a halt Wednesday, financial services insiders and observers weighed in on the vulnerabilities of increasingly electronic financial systems.

While some predict that fintech startups will soon overthrow banks, a boom in partnerships between the two industries is far more likely. Startups will benefit from access to new markets and infrastructure, while banks will stay on the cutting edge of innovation.

Trade finance has been quietly making a significant contribution to global growth. But regulations like Basel III could reduce its availability.

Santander's Enforcement Action; Debating Encryption

With the looming liability shift in the United States, EMV is on every payment card issuer’s mind, though with the challenge comes opportunities, such as bolstering customer relationships.

The Supreme Court's recent ruling that the disparate impact theory of liability can be applied to the Fair Housing Act means mortgage lenders must be even more vigilant in their ongoing testing and evaluation of business practices that could be interpreted as even unintentional discrimination.

MetLife and its allies are pushing back against the Financial Stability Oversight Council. But it's well worth imposing additional regulatory costs on large nonbanks if doing so helps prevent another crisis.