PayThink

The best way to stave off regulatory excess in the wake of a financial crisis is to stop causing crises in the first place. More restraint on financial institutions' part could help.

To ensure covenants are satisfied, loan syndicates obtain private information that would give an equity market maker an advantage. Reinstating Glass-Steagall may be the only way to prevent reuse of such information.

In their path-breaking 2009 book "This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly" economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff conclude it never is.

The announcement by Bank of America (BAC) of their plan to offer up to 200,000 struggling homeowners a new lease on life for their underwater mortgage through principal reduction at first glance seems like a major step forward in addressing a nearly 5-year old problem.

Louisiana has filed a RICO complaint against MERS and a host of megabanks, Bank of America included. Down the line, consumer advocates hope hard-nosed prosecutors can provide what Occupy may not be able to: justice for homeowners.

The banking industry suffered credit crises in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. An unavoidable conclusion is that its loan loss reserves were in all cases too small.

Bankers received an earful about pay from the public this year. But among the audience that matters most—their own shareholders—the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Currently there is a significant disparity between small privately held businesses' strong need for credit, which is unmet, and lender's enthusiastic willingness to give credit to large companies, few of which are seeking credit.

Over and over we heard at the Milken Institute Global Conference that there's a "clog in the transmission mechanism" of the economy.

I recently introduced the MasterCard Mobile Payments Readiness Index to a group of c-level bankers, and told them that one of our top-level findings is that it's the early days for mobile payments.