PayThink

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has attempted to reassure lenders that their attorney-client privilege will be protected in any information turned over to the agency. But lender and their lawyers are not convinced.

After being the first bank penalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Capital One will be facing a challenge to make sure the integration its recent acquisitions, HSCB's credit card portfolio and ING Direct, doesn't trip the CFPB's concerns.

It is only natural that a business unit will not want to disturb an established, profitable relationship. But that is how risk enters a business, making the whole firm vulnerable to financial crimes or regulatory violations.

Liability insurance companies generally argue allowing banks to receive insurance coverage for overdraft litigation settlements violates public policy and rewards supposed wrongdoing, but there typically is no explicit exclusion in a policy that justifies this and other go-to positions.

"It was more like a poke in the eye with a sharp stick" says former FDIC chair Shelia Bair in response to Mitt Romney's assertion during the first presidential debate that the "systemically important" designation under Dodd-Frank was a the "biggest kiss" to Wall Street.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Daniel Tarullo advocated size caps on banks and raised concerns about the lack of a definition of "financial stability" in the Dodd-Frank Act, during a speech.

Viable restructuring alternatives to bank holding company debt do exist and will open the door to conventional M&A options or attract fresh equity.

Proclaim the beliefs you would fight for – the essence of what differentiates your bank from others – then carefully ensure that every action, from your marketing, to your interactions and behaviors, matches those values.

Bankers at institutions with between $10 and 50 billion can breathe a sign of relief. They've been anticipating an extension on the stress tests mandated by Dodd-Frank, and the regulatory agencies gave it to them in the final rulings.

Big banks' interchange revenue appears to be climbing out of the Durbin crater. At banks exempt from the Dodd-Frank price controls, meanwhile, such revenue is speeding along unscathed. Check out our interactive graphic that breaks out revenue for each institution.