Financial institutions

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including a call for a small-business loan brokers' code of ethics and why Congress needs to level the playing field for investors in bank obligations.

By ensuring that all big-bank investors receive equal treatment in bankruptcy and looking for other ways to prevent short-term liquidity problems from becoming major financial crises, Congress can avoid the need to test the FDIC’s ability to resolve large financial institutions.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the merits and drawbacks of Sen. Richard Shelby's regulatory reform legislation, whether bigger banks are inherently riskier and banks' evolving interest in blockchain technology.

Orchard Platform in New York has added two nonbank lenders to its marketplace lending service that matches institutional investors with loan originators.

The Senate Banking Committee approved a broad regulatory reform bill Thursday on party lines, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle vowing to continue negotiations this summer.

Critics of the regulatory relief bill proposed by Sen. Richard Shelby argue that will endanger the financial system and benefit big banks. But in fact, the changes offer sensible, nonpartisan fixes to some of the biggest problems with the Dodd-Frank Act.

It's a good idea to raise the asset threshold at which financial institutions are automatically designated as systemically important financial institutions. But Sen. Richard Shelby's proposed legislation for regulatory relief does require one crucial change.

No bank has fully disclosed what it spends on the Federal Reserve's Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review, in part because the figure is hard to isolate. It's a key piece of information missing in the debate over banks' regulatory burden.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon defended his institution by arguing that size isn't necessarily an indicator of risk. But the truth is that the larger an organization gets, the more complex it becomes-and the more difficult it is for leaders to keep everything from customer service to fraud prevention working the way it should.

So far, Washington has generally smiled on tech-driven lenders such as Lending Club and OnDeck. But many in the fast-growing industry are now bracing for closer scrutiny.

Sen. Richard Shelby's attempt to reform Dodd-Frank could ease key bank regulations that improve the safety and soundness of big banks. That would be an immense disservice to the American taxpayers who might bear the cost of the changes with future bailouts.

JPMorgan Chase has purchased $45 billion in servicing rights from embattled mortgage firm Ocwen Financial.

With the release of Sen. Shelby's regulatory reform bill, the debate over the legislation is just beginning to take shape. We sort through the possibilities for how it will unfold.

Many lenders shy away from adjusting monthly payments based on struggling borrowers' income for fear of losing too much money, but the Education Department's expansion of such plans for student loans and new data-crunching products have reframed the longtime discussion.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg, discussing progress in establishing big-bank resolution regimes, said the Federal Reserve is developing a rule "to codify" the swaps protocol involving termination rights.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, issued subpoenas Monday for several federal agencies, asking for a trove of documents concerning ongoing investigations that he said they are obstructing.