Comments of the Week: Sept. 3 - 7
September 7, 2012 9:56 AM
(Image: Thinkstock)
On Tom Curry’s view of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency:
"The OCC has always needed a change in culture."Related Article: What Ex-Comptroller Walsh Really Thinks About the State of Banking (Image: Bloomberg News)
On Elizabeth Warren’s speech at the Democratic Convention:
"Everything Elizabeth Warren and those academics and policy wonks point to are the sins of the Big Banks. The problem is that in the end the Community Banks across this country … get hammered with all this new regulation in the great crusade."Related Article: Warren, Dems Push Back Against GOP Narrative on Over-Regulation (Image: Bloomberg News)
On the Democrats' defense of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:
"Only an independent agency free of big bank lobbying efforts with Congress can reform those abuses and give the middle class a fighting chance."Related Article: Warren, Dems Push Back Against GOP Narrative on Over-Regulation (Image: Bloomberg News)
On the CFPB's proposed overhaul of mortgage APR calculations:
"The underlying problem is that consumers don't understand APR [annual percentage rates] and don't use it as it was intended - to facilitate comparison-shopping."Related Article: CFPB Mortgage Reform Applies Wrong Fix to the Right Problem, Bankers Say (Image: Thinkstock)
On the CFPB's proposed overhaul of mortgage APR calculations:
"Unless the changes include that all advertisements must also be by APR, requiring an all-in-APR in the prelims will simply and unfairly cause additional consumer disenchantment with the industry."Related Article: CFPB Mortgage Reform Applies Wrong Fix to the Right Problem, Bankers Say (Image: Thinkstock)
On designations like 'systematically important' or 'Too Big To Fail':
"If economists with doctorates cannot agree on basic terminology (or punctuation), it's time to get new consultants, and probably a new Congress."Related Article: No Financial Institutions Are Systemically Important (Image: Thinkstock)
On the concept that some banks are 'Too Big to Fail':
"No member of the industry, no single bank, is too big to fail, and no regulator should be allowed to bail out any failing bank."Related Article: No Financial Institutions Are Systemically Important (Image: Thinkstock)
On why the concept of Too Big To Fail persists:
"Bailing out such institutions saves regulators from having to explain why they let things get that bad in the first place, and politicians get to protect the politically connected."Related Article: No Financial Institutions Are Systemically Important (Image: Thinkstock)
On Libor alternatives:
"The [Chicago Mercantile Exchange's] original system worked. It could be validated by transaction information."Related Article: CFTC Ignored Warnings of Libor-Gaming - 15 Years Ago (Image: Thinkstock)
On Dodd-Frank’s impact on small banks:
Damage to small banks from Dodd-Frank "will continue … until we stand up as a group and tell them [policymakers] what the cost to business and jobs is ... how about a thousand community banks march on Washington?"Related Article: You Can't Regulate Two Types of Banks with One Law (Image: Thinkstock)
On the use of digital currency Bitcoin by Mitt Romney’s would-be blackmailers:
"Anonymous [transactions] can be used properly if the providers establish rules to guard against misuse."Related Article: Romney Shakedown Attempt Shows Bitcoin's Laundering Potential (Image: Thinkstock)
On consumer demand for small-dollar loans:
"The answer is for the Fed's to level the playing field, require full disclosure of fees and lender I.D., enable lenders to offer these small dollar loans via stores, phones, web sites, apps and whatever entrepreneurs dream up next."Related Article: Federal Charter for Nonbanks Would Be Good News for Small Banks (Image: Thinkstock)
On how to make customers love your bank:
"If you want to maintain loyal customers, don't actively defraud them."Related Article: How to Make Customers Love Your Bank (Image: Thinkstock)
On Bernanke’s defense of the Fed’s aid to banks:
"In other words, Helicopter Ben is going to make it rain up in here again. It's what he does. Plan accordingly, folks."Related Article: Bernanke Defends Fed's Bank Policies in Pledging Market Support (Image: Bloomberg News)
On innovation in financial services:
"Re-imagining finance is truly needed, especially given the economic environment that we will be confronting for years to come. Those banks that take head and leverage social media, new forms of currency, significantly enhanced data projection, and other mediums to 'reduce the FRICTION' of conducting commerce will win."Related Article: SWIFT Reimagines Banks' Role in Commerce for a Data-Driven Future (Image: Thinkstock)
