PayThink

Crybaby bankers, when not engaged in weeping over new rules, focus on attacking "shadow banking," whether in the form of payday lending or money funds.

In her column, "It's Time for Money Funds to Fess Up About Fluctuating Values," Barbara Rehm seems too intent on promoting regulations "that could make money funds miserable," regardless of their impact on investors, the financial system, and the economy.

In Barbara Rehm's column "It's Time for Money Funds to Fess Up About Fluctuating Values," she characterizes the $1 net asset value as "a fiction," which is defined at something feigned, invented or imagined.

The appeals court ruling is likely to perpetuate the perverse situation in which banks view SEC legal settlements as a cost of doing business rather than a deterrent for fraud.

Some banks must know where the missing customer funds are. Otherwise why would they be confident enough to bid as much as 90% of face value for customer claims?

For years, Litton Loan Servicing was open to making a deal with delinquent borrowers. Then Goldman took over.

For young businesses to succeed, they first need business management tools, networks and coaching. Only after they have these things are they ready to take out loans.

Last year, for the first time in anyone's recollection, there were no new bank charters approved, with the exception of three specifically blessed to acquire failed banks.

Congress should repeal Sarbanes-Oxley to increase the flow of equity capital to micro- and small-cap public companies. Lawmakers also must increase the allotment for the SBA 7(a) program and guarantee it exists for the next three years.

The Fed's assessment of the 19 bank-holding companies' vulnerability to an economic stress event underscores one of the major challenges in conducting "what-if" types of scenario analysis; namely that it seems to be fighting the last war.