Comments of the Week
August 10, 2012 8:40 AM
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On a Standard Chartered executive's alleged complaints about U.S. overreach:
"No foreign bank should be given an advantage over U.S. banks while doing business in the U.S. If U.S. banks cannot do business with Iran, no other bank operating in the U.S. should be able to do business with them. This is not arrogance; it is fair trade practice."
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On the Standard Chartered executive's alleged complaints about U.S. overreach:
"Would Standard Chartered have stood up 20 years ago and said 'If we want to do business with the IRA, who is the Bank of England to say we can't?' I doubt that very much."
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On U.S. readers' reactions to the Standard Chartered allegations:
"These comments just exemplify the typical U.S. knows better than the rest of the world. Has anyone actually read the statement from StanChart saying that these payments were perfectly legitimate even under U.S. laws?"
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On the significance of the Standard Chartered scandal:
"The recent revelation regarding Standard Chartered's defiance of the U.S. prohibition on trading with the enemy, in this case $250 billion in volume with Iran, are icing on the cake for those calling for the increased regulation of the banking industry."
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On the case against restoring Glass-Steagall:
"Some of the securities companies that did cause the problem happened to own subsidiary commercial banks but that had no connection to the securitization programs. So re-enacting Glass Steagall would be window dressing. According to studies by the FDIC in the 1980s, Glass-Steagall was also window dressing when it was originally enacted."
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On the case for restoring Glass-Steagall:
"The common sense reality is that banks and investment banks are opposites! You cannot insure deposits and then allow banks to invest in high-risk products designed by Wall Street! We have known this since the thirties!"
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On the use of eminent domain to refinance underwater mortgages:
"This will only make our unstable market much worse. Lenders will stop lending if they know that they run the risk of having their investments stripped away. Investors will stop buying if they know that their investment is at risk. Why not do a principal reduction for the existing homeowners with a recapture clause as the market recovers?"
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On the CFPB's remittance regulations:
"It seems that most CFPB rules are designed to or have 'disparate impact', as the CFPB is fond of referencing, to work against the smaller firms. In the end the picking of winners and losers is not working unless you are a TBTF winner."
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On the CFPB's remittance regulations:
"If the goal of the rule is to make sure that the largest firms in the remittance business have fewer competitors (and higher costs to pass on to consumers), then the rule will be a success. If, on the other hand, the purpose of the rule is to enhance competition, supply, and choice, and reduce costs for consumers of remittance services, the rule is a failure."
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On why consumers will pay for remote deposits:
"Unlike with checking, they have not been conditioned to expect the service for free."
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On Libor-rigging:
"Self-regulation is an oxymoron, and those who think not are simply oxymorons sans 'oxy'."
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On whether TAG should be voluntary again:
"Let the TBTF's opt out. As a community banker, I'll remind depositors that while these gigantic banks may be TBTF, their deposit beyond $250,000 is uninsured by the FDIC even if the bank fails and is bailed-out by the government - excuse me, the taxpayers."
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On customer service at a bank:
"Value creation is not a function of [a] customer knowing the banker's name ... it is a function of the banker doing his/her job to create value for the customer ... above and beyond simply offering a menu of available bank products!"
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On customer service at a bank:
"In today's electronic world the personal touch is lost, but I still remember when I was in the bank, way back in the 80's, my customers knew me … I believe people still want that personal relationship, even if they don't go into the branch often, they want someone they know to ask financial questions and not just an impersonal online chat."
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