PayThink

Government-mandated risk retention is not an answer to the problem of bad loans being bundled up and sold to unsuspecting buyers. A better approach is to make sure that MBS purchasers have access to good loan-level data about what they are buying.

By pretending to treat the guarantee problem as actuarial rather than political, Corker-Warner can garner the support of traditional lending and housing lobbies that historically supported Fannie and Freddie.

It’s easier to sell a person something he wants than to scare him into buying protection from something he wants to avoid. That’s particularly applicable when it comes to selling payments security.

A Huffington Post scoop describes serious morale problems at the Fed, but lays most of the blame for that on former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan. Editor-at-large Barbara A. Rehm sees it differently.

Bank regulators, enforcement authorities and legislatures in key countries will have to work together to enforce Basel's well-meaning guidelines related to money-laundering and terrorism financing.

Incremental gains in women's progress are no longer a sufficient substitute for meaningful change.

The federal income tax exemption benefits credit union members and bank customers as credit unions provide a check on banks through their competitive rates and fees.

The concept of using the payments stream to promote donations is compelling because it provides an easy way to link everyday consumer payments with charitable giving.

The strength of America's financial system is a result of the diversity of its players, but that diversity won’t survive if our nation continues down the path of one-size-fits-all regulatory reform.

We need to secure a balance between literal enforcement of statistical conclusions and the actual intention of the bank and the real needs of underserved minority communities.