Resources

JPMorgan Chase is cutting some jobs but expanding its asset-management business, as it increasingly courts wealthy customers.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency hasn't explained why it stopped Fannie Mae from slashing its hazard insurance costs by hundreds of millions of dollars. The regulator's decision certainly benefits major banks, however, leading critics to cry foul.

Startups are trying to reinvent the much-maligned payday loan, using Big Data to develop algorithms that can better predict who will default so they can cut the price of short-term, small-dollar credit. But consumer advocates continue to object to these products. Banks have an opportunity to partner with these new entrants, but reputational risk may discourage them from doing so.

Will the Financial Stability Oversight Council be successful at spotting threats before they cause a financial crisis or will it instead create "regulatory hazard" in the form of a false sense of security?

Even as the financial crisis gives way to a recovery, everyone from Sen. Elizabeth Warren to comedian Stephen Colbert are demanding Washington get tough on banks and bankers. The question is what sort of action-if any-will follow.