PayThink

Financial firms can minimize the damage by understanding where key threats lie, educating employees and customers about phishing scams, and breaking down silos between compliance, fraud and security teams.

Randal Quarles, the Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision, says the central bank was wise not to require banks to build capital cushions in the lead-up to the pandemic. But that decision rested on a misleading a narrative and could wind up threatening the economic recovery.

Any bank that engages in auto, mortgage or other retail lending should develop a comprehensive program to identify potential risks of noncompliance with consumer protection rules and take corrective actions before the Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau comes calling.

Just as small and midsize businesses had to adapt to survive the coronavirus emergency, lenders need to adopt new underwriting practices and technologies that modernize how they evaluate borrowers' creditworthiness.

In "Antitrust," former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar offers little nuance in weighing the costs and benefits of concentrated economic power.

Math-based machine learning tools hold substantial promise in advancing the fairness of consumer lending and developing benchmarks for the entire industry.

Banks need to innovate to compete with upstart fintechs, but fragmented and inflexible core systems are slowing digital transformation. Here’s how banks — with help from their regulators — can thrive amid the disruption.

High-tech videoconferencing is no replacement for high-touch in-person meetings. Yet some bank directors who are vaccinated remain hesitant to return to boardrooms.

The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, says the Federal Reserve's heightened attention to racial and income inequality amounts to "political advocacy." But Al Piña, the CEO of the Florida Minority Community Reinvestment Coalition, argues that promoting equality is part of the Fed's mission.

It's in financial institutions' best interest to treat increasingly popular cryptocurrency assets the same as other financial assets held by their customers. And regulators must foster a safe environment for these assets by focusing on real risks like money laundering and terrorism finance.