How should the west and in particular my country, the United States of America, comport itself diplomatically in these times. What beacons should we present to help inspire the 21st century to be better? Are we credible inspirations?
How should banks manage their susceptibility and vulnerability to new classes of risk? How should insurers and markets price the risk-reward nature of such exposures?
Earlier this week my company reported on our findings about the first quarter number of the banking industry. Our industry fact sheet indicates the banking is getting healthier.
In December 2009, my friend Arianna Huffington called with this idea to educate "ordinary" people about the financial system. We called that project "Move Your Money" and the tool has been running ever since.
Like a wave of tornadoes touching down, the FDIC struck across the country on Friday shuttering five banks from coast to coast.
The fatal combination of being on the outs with Wall Street and the atrophy of the size of the business proved insurmountable and culminated in today's failure.
The FDIC closed the second bank of 2012 to fail with no acquirer today. South Michigan Avenue became the focus of Friday evening activities to shutter the $71 million institution.
The FDIC closed another bank in Georgia this week bringing the total to three so far in 2012. Global Commerce Bank in Doraville became the latest casualty of the bank clean up's march through the South.
It doesn't happen very often, but this week one of the two banks closed by the FDIC failed to find a buyer. Such failures have been rare events to date as the regulator resolves troubled institutions.
Simply put, with zero interest rates pushing operating margins down to nothing, the only thing starving bankers have left to do to survive the drought is cannibalize the industry.
The general pattern of the FDIC closing banks with weak operating characteristics and deepening asset quality troubles continues. The FDIC shuttered four additional banks today bringing the 2012 count to seven.
The FDIC closed it's first banks of 2012 today. A total of three insitutions were shuttered by the regulator.
Our economy is withering not because we are poor but because we have no direction.
Richard Alarcon's now long hampered quest to bring Responsible Banking to the city of Los Angeles asks questions important to all communities in this country.
The City of Los Angeles talks a great game about the "love in at the park" of its version of the Occupy movement. But clearly the old guard apparatus isn't yielding ground as fast as the rhetoric.
I've been staring at the summary statistics for the industry today and file the following observations for those of you entertained by how this is all playing out.
The U.S. economy's deposits, assets and risk instruments remain concentrated in a very small number of large institutions. What if one of them, just one of them, collapsed?
Come April Fool's Day, the free ride is over. The "base assessment amount" changes to a new formula. From now on it's the bank's total assets minus its tangible common equity (TCE) that determines the base amount.
Next time you interact with your bank, ask them to tell you more about they are doing about expanding loan production. Some will balk, but others will gladly wax on about how they'll make things better.
The U.S. is a big country and D.C. isn't the only place exploring ways to find economic recovery formulae. Across the country, cities and states are beginning to chart independent paths to creating their own "islands of recovery".
Richard Alarcon and his colleagues on the L.A. City Council drafted an ordinance calling for the city to favor financial contracts with banks that demonstrate "responsible banking practices" benefiting the economy and people of L.A.
There is need for independent ways to find banks and -- more important -- ask consumer choice questions about how they rate compared to their neighbors. Now you can do it on a handheld.
The ensuing aimless frustration and fury in politics are the cards that excite the media as the pursuit of ratings turns everything into reality television. But where are the voices of the American center?
Six months after 9/11 on March 11, 2002 the created the color code threat system was created. Life in the United States has been Yellow ever since; we have altered our infrastructure to accept constant threat as normal.
These hearings that could improve the Community Reinvestment Act, the 1977 law designed to ensure banks remain connected to communities. Regulators decided it may be time to update how this law is enforced.
