PayThink

Yes, Bill Cooper, Chairman and CEO of Minnesota-based TCF Financial famously wants to give back his bank´s $361 million in Tarp money. And though it took only six lines on a single page to get it, and already 280 pages filed with regulators to try to give it back, that´s not really what he wants to talk about. In the opening address at SourceMedia´s Best Practices in Retail Financial Services Symposium in Florida on Sunday, Cooper outlined the leading causes the financial crisis, and why he returned as chairman in 2008 after retiring in 2005.

The week ahead in Washington will be filled with anticipation. There are more hearings scheduled to take place on Capitol Hill and a couple of major agencies will convene meetings Tuesday, but the real question of the week is on bankruptcy. Will the stalled cramdown bill reach the Senate floor?

We´ve stayed out of the predominantly useless buzz over the recent battle between the financial news network CNBC and The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, but now it´s time to weigh in. Our verdict: Regulators should watch and learn.

A few weeks back at a breakfast session that was sponsored by the Filene Research Institute, its executive director, Mark Meyer, pointed to all that was and is going on in the world and dusted off an old quote from CU pioneer Ed Filene: "Cooperation among individuals is no longer novel. Cooperation among cooperatives is imperative."

Editor's note: the following letter was written in response to "Regulators Seek Ways To Mitigate Corporate Burden" (CU Journal, Feb. 23)

Shame on NCUA.

At Northpark Community CU we have run into a wall when it comes to growth. As noted in the first part of this series, no, the wall is not the opportunity to grow, it's permission to grow-permission from our regulator.

With the lively debate continuing over credit unions picking up the tab for U.S. Central and a handful of troubled corporates, one predominant theme seems to be emerging: credit unions must pay now because earlier they demanded high rates from their corporates. I take issue with this view.

Financial institutions' e-finance and e-payments innovation will get slower before it gets better: consumed with integration, the largest financial institutions will see a slowdown in product innovation for a few years followed by an era of unprecedented customer control for their financial affairs.

It's no secret that Wall Street isn't too happy with the Obama administration's method of dealing with the financial crisis. Bankers have complained not only about the lack of details in the administration's new rescue plans, but also about the prevailing negativity they've picked up in the tone of messages coming out of Washington. Yesterday, JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon took matters into his own hands , attempting to boost morale in the industry.