Regulators owe community banks more than nostalgia
BY MICHELE ALT For years, scenes from “It’s a Wonderful Life” played on a loop in the FDIC’s public foyer, illustrating the romantic lens...
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Simon Gilbert
- Oct 17
- 5 min
How to understand capital ratios
BY SIMON GILBERT In our meetings with clients, the three most common words are “a”, “the”, and “capital.” And it’s not surprising: some...
Simon Gilbert
- Sep 12
- 5 min
How (and why) to read a bank’s call report
As the banking crisis continues to unfold, regulators who scrutinize banks, fintechs wondering if their banking partner is sound, and...
Kevin Stein
- Aug 15
- 3 min
Chairman Gruenberg is Swinging
BY KEVIN STEIN FDIC Chairman Marty Gruenberg’s recent speech at the Brookings Institution Center for Regulation and Markets had some...
Tod Gordon
- Aug 11
- 3 min
Roadmap to Ratings Recovery
BY TOD GORDON Moody’s recent ratings actions impacting 27 U.S. banks reflects a belated recognition of challenges facing the banking...
Patrick Haggerty
- Aug 10
- 5 min
The Intricacies of Deposit Reporting Under the Microscope
BY PATRICK HAGGERTY In the aftermath of recent bank failures and subsequent deposit flight from several regional banks, the way banks...
Andreas Westgaard
- Aug 3
- 2 min
Decoding the new regulatory guidance on third-party relationships
BY ANDREAS WESTGAARD AND CHRISTINA HUNT-FUHR The much-anticipated guidance on third-party relationships issued in June by the Fed, OCC,...
Kevin Stein
- Jul 26
- 1 min
What’s not to like about the Banc of CA/PacWest transaction?
BY KEVIN STEIN There’s a lot to like about the Banc of California/PacWest merger announced yesterday. The transaction creates a combined...
Brian Graham
- Jul 13
- 4 min
What to Watch for in Second Quarter Bank Earnings
BY BRIAN GRAHAM The first half of 2023 has been chaotic for the banking industry: a spate of bank failures, fundamental restructuring of...
Tod Gordon
- Jul 12
- 2 min
Debunking Deposit Dogma
BY TOD GORDON Bank liquidity regulation and resulting practices were derived and honed from the learnings of the Financial Crisis. A...
Kevin Stein
- Jul 10
- 2 min
Only Consolidation Will Save American Community and Regional Banks
BY KEVIN STEIN Over my thirty-five years in the banking sector, I’ve witnessed the number of FDIC-insured depositories decline from...
Jonah Crane
- Jun 1
- 6 min
Post-GFC Bank Investments by Private Equity, Part 1: The Regulatory Playbook
BY JONAH CRANE, BRIAN GRAHAM, AND KEVIN STEIN Once again, the banking system is under stress and banks are in need of additional capital....
Michele Alt
- May 12
- 2 min
Regulators Need to Finish the Job of Curbing Faulty Banker Incentive Compensation Arrangements
BY MICHELE ALT In the Fed report analyzing the dramatic collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Michael Barr, the Fed’s vice chair for...
Vince Curotto
- May 5
- 2 min
Banks at a Crossroad
BY VINCENT CUROTTO On Weds. May 3, just hours after Jerome Powell assured the public that the U.S. banking sector was “sound and...
Patrick Haggerty
- Mar 23
- 7 min
Bail-In Out: What Happened to Bondholders in the UBS–Credit Suisse Merger?
By PATRICK HAGGERTY Following the announcement over the weekend that Swiss regulators had forced through an emergency acquisition by UBS...
Mary Dent
- Feb 16
- 3 min
Redefining Who's "Unbanked" in America
By MARY DENT & TRACY BASINGER The FDIC’s biennial national survey of unbanked and underbanked households has been the “go to” reference...
Jonah Crane
- Nov 15, 2022
- 2 min
How Fintech Partnerships Can Help Mid-Sized Banks Solve Their Funding Problems
BY JONAH CRANE Over the past year, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates at the fastest pace in history, and quickly rolled back...
Patrick Haggerty
- Oct 4, 2022
- 3 min
Regulatory Pressure on BaaS is Mounting at a Critical Juncture for the Industry
BY PATRICK HAGGERTY Banks have been providing back-end services that enable nonbanks to offer financial services to their customers for...
Christina Hunt-Fuhr
- Sep 27, 2022
- 1 min
Potential Fraud Risk Management Pitfalls for Banks and Fintechs
BY CHRISTINA HUNT-FUHR Fraud is everywhere in financial services. It’s increasing in both volume and cost, now accounting for up to 5% of...
Brian Graham
- Sep 21, 2022
- 3 min
Acting Comptroller Hsu’s speech - the tip of a new regulatory iceberg
BY BRIAN GRAHAM A lot of folks in fintech are still talking about Acting OCC Comptroller Michael Hsu’s recent speech, which among other...
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