PayThink

Our analysis is agnostic on whether the costs are proportional to the benefits. But we find the claim that the CARD Act has had no cost to cardholders to be too hopeful based on current data.

In previous articles I spoke of banking and bankers. The following vignettes present some bank customers I encountered during my banking days, including a rabbi, a nun, a hotshot attorney and a philanderer.

"Richard Cordray was reintroduced Thursday as the administration's long-term choice to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but huge questions remain over whether his second nomination for the job is any more likely to be approved than his first," writes American Banker's Joe Adler.

What the mortgage industry wanted was a clear-cut rule from the CFPB. What it received was 800-plus pages of confusion.

Why do we instinctively cower to power after financial crises and human tragedies? And what can be done about it?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau garnered a positive reaction after the release of the "qualified mortgage" rule, which governs mortgage underwriting. The industry is optimistic that the still-pending securitization rule may also turn out better than expected.

"A real bank failure has yet to test the Dodd-Frank Act's resolution regime, but an industry group says its realistic mock-up shows the facility can prevent systemic fallout," writes American Banker's Joe Adler.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a series of rules overhauling the mortgage system. One rule released on Friday bans compensation to mortgage originators based on loan terms, including a higher interest rate or generally a high-cost loan.

As a part of several appraisal rules released last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will require mortgage lenders to release free copies of home appraisals to borrowers.

The lawmaker behind the Federal Reserve and Glass-Steagall Acts understood that unless legislation imposes specific rules, including clear limits on financial institutions' activities, we are bound to have lax regulation, excessive speculation, and crises.