Banking

Fraud, Security and Priorities for BITS

Updated: 2011-09-30 18:29:14

BITS, the technology policy division of The Financial Services Roundtable, has just named Paul Smocer its new president. What are his strategies for tackling fraud, security and FFIEC compliance?

FFIEC Announces New Executive Secretary

Updated: 2011-09-30 18:29:14

Debbie Matz, Chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, announced the appointment of Judith E. Dupre as executive secretary of the Council.

PCI: Merchants Still Fall Short

Updated: 2011-09-30 18:29:14

Discussing Verizon's new report on the state of PCI compliance, PCI expert Jen Mack says payment card security today is "disappointing," and global merchants are at serious risk of new data breaches.

How Banks Must Prepare for Dodd-Frank

Updated: 2011-09-30 18:29:14

Dave Mader of Booz Allen Hamilton on What Banks Should be Doing NowIt's been well over a year since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. How should banking institutions prepare for the hundreds of new regulations expected to come as a result of this landmark legislation?

Steps to Improve AML Compliance

Updated: 2011-09-30 18:29:14

How a Small Community Bank Improved Its Security PostureBSA and AML compliance are priorities that never get pushed aside. So what steps are banks and credit unions taking to ensure they comply with regulators' demands?

FinCEN: Second Quarter Mortgage Loan Fraud: Suspicious Activity Persists

Updated: 2011-09-30 18:29:14

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network [FinCEN] reported in its Second Quarter 2011 Analysis of mortgage loan fraud suspicious activity reports [MLF SARs] that financial institutions filed 29,558 MLF SARs in the second quarter of 2011, up from 15,727 MLF SARs reported in the same quarter of 2010.

Why Merchants Struggle with PCI

Updated: 2011-09-30 18:29:14

PCI Council: 'It's a Matter of Resources'"Everyone plays a role in protecting card data," says PCI Council head Bob Russo, offering the group's first public response to criticism from Verizon's new report on the state of PCI compliance.

NCUA: Chetco Federal Credit Union of Harbor, Ore., Conserved

Updated: 2011-09-30 18:29:14

The National Credit Union Administration assumed control of service and operations at Chetco Federal Credit Union of Harbor, Ore.

FDIC: Citizens Bank of Northern California, Nevada City, Calif., Closes

Updated: 2011-09-30 18:29:14

Citizens Bank of Northern California, Nevada City, Calif., was closed by the California Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver.

7 Steps to Secure Mobile Devices

Updated: 2011-09-30 18:29:14

Elayne Starkey recently gave up her BlackBerry for an iPhone, and uses the Apple mobile device for personal and work doings, securely connecting to the computer system of her employer, the state of Delaware.

My latest prezi on the Bank of Tomorrow

Updated: 2011-09-30 10:31:29

Eurozone crisis threatens SEPA

Updated: 2011-09-30 10:25:01

Things worth reading: 30th September 2011

Updated: 2011-09-30 06:58:18

Worst Idea Ever: "Free the Banks"

Updated: 2011-09-29 17:56:39

A strange idea is going around -- that the financial industry's problems are someone else's fault, and that it's time to stop "punishing" banks and let them loose to do whatever they want.

Banks are awful, says the FSA

Updated: 2011-09-29 08:07:00

Things worth reading: 29th September 2011

Updated: 2011-09-29 06:30:54

Some Wild Idea in a Big White Bed

Updated: 2011-09-28 20:45:00

Over at Dealbook, I take a look at the obvious solution to the Greek situation and the chatter regarding a sovereign bankruptcy procedure.

Here's an Idea -- Reduce the Deficit By Taxing Securities Trades

Updated: 2011-09-28 20:19:14

The EU is boldly proposing to impose a small fee to trade stocks, bonds and derivatives as a way to enhance financial stability. Here's why it could work -- or bomb.

11.14.11: Celent Toronto Area Digital Channels Executive Summit

Updated: 2011-09-28 16:24:25

Bart Narter, Senior Vice President, and Jacob Jegher, Senior Analyst, Celent’s Banking Group This event is open to banks and is by invitation only. Registration is limited to four contacts per bank. Please click here for more information.

A Big Week for Workforce Optimization (WFO) Software

Updated: 2011-09-28 14:25:29

The past week saw two significant announcements in the world of WFO. Historically, use of WFO has been the domain of large organizations. In financial services for example, Celent estimates that 80% of top tier banks use WFO (those with assets of US$50b or more) while less than 500 US FIs employ WFO (about 3%). [...]

Compare and contrast the UK and the Philippines

Updated: 2011-09-28 10:23:44

Things worth reading: 28th September 2011

Updated: 2011-09-28 08:57:20

Safe Harbors Gone Wild

Updated: 2011-09-28 05:56:17

Yesterday's decision from the District Court court in the Madoff-Mets litigation is yet another example of why Congress desperately needs to revisit the safe harbors which exempt a host of financial transactions from the workings of the Bankruptcy Code (in...

Things worth reading: 27th September 2011

Updated: 2011-09-27 09:07:40

Let's Get the British to Pay!

Updated: 2011-09-27 05:59:38

For those of you following the Greek default "situation," I highly recommend Macro Man's take on the latest plan, which explains why this is not apt to make it very far. In short, it would involve British support for the...

10.26.11: Celent Banking Webinar: Outsourcing Trends in the Chinese Banking Industry

Updated: 2011-09-26 20:47:28

Celent analyst Hua Zhang This event is free to attend. Celent clients and the media will have access to the webinar’s PowerPoint presentation after the event. Please click here for more information.

A look back at Sibos

Updated: 2011-09-26 12:17:00

Another year over, and another successful Sibos. My previous post gave a sense (I hope!) of how long and busy the week was. Having finished the week, it now seems to have flown by. The pile of business cards and follow-ups are a testament to a productive series of meetings. In addition to the happiness [...]

Things worth reading: 26th September 2011

Updated: 2011-09-26 12:10:43

Big Change in Graduate School Loans Flew Under the Radar

Updated: 2011-09-26 04:00:44

When Congress recently compromised on balancing the budget, it chose to “save” Pell grants for undergraduates by throwing Stafford Loan for graduate students under the bus. It is unclear why this particular horse trade was necessary, and I am not...

Exemption Policy: Sometimes it Doesn’t Pay to be Debt Free

Updated: 2011-09-26 03:28:03

We have two married 60-something friends who are artists in Santa Fe and own a very simple home with a rental house in the front. The house is tiny by all but New York City standards, and since their income...

The Finanser's #SIBOS Week: 18th September - 25th September 2011

Updated: 2011-09-25 14:26:17

Federal Reserve Still Can't Agree on What's Making the Economy Sick

Updated: 2011-09-23 21:30:00

Why won't the central bank take stronger measures to revive the U.S. economy? The main reason has less to do with politics than with internal dissent over what is holding back growth.

Innotribe and SIBOS roundup

Updated: 2011-09-23 20:26:53

It’s been a hectic but great week at Sibos, chock full of meetings and interactions. The Celent Banking team was well represented and I made the rounds along with Zil and Gareth (see Gareth’s blog entry here). I managed to steal away from the traditional Sibos stream for a bit, and participated in several sessions at [...]

How Bank of America Punished Its Own Employees For Ferreting Out Mortgage Fraud

Updated: 2011-09-23 19:34:21

What did B of A do when the company's former mortgage-fraud investigation chief found evidence of grossly illegal activities at its Countrywide unit? It fired her.

Brain-Injured Marines and For-Profit Colleges

Updated: 2011-09-23 16:39:32

Military personnel have long been targets of predatory creditors, going back to the moneylenders who followed the Roman legions. More recently, payday lenders clustered storefronts around military bases. The latest development is that subprime operators are hawking degrees at for-profit...

All of SIBOS 2011 ...

Updated: 2011-09-23 15:41:45

Reflections on SIBOS 2011

Updated: 2011-09-23 15:31:29

Things worth reading: 23rd September 2011

Updated: 2011-09-23 12:48:56

And so SIBOS ends ... until next year

Updated: 2011-09-22 22:22:42

#innotribe drums drown out short-sighted journo

Updated: 2011-09-22 19:03:22

Panic Sell: Why Are Global Stock Markets Tanking?

Updated: 2011-09-22 18:12:14

Investors are running for the hills following the Fed's bleak economic prognosis. In fact, though, the facts on the ground remain the same.

Banks must learn how to do regulation and innovation

Updated: 2011-09-22 16:18:35

The Future of Facebook

Updated: 2011-09-22 13:31:06

SWIFT's strong commitment to innovation

Updated: 2011-09-22 12:30:33

Day 93 of Sibos

Updated: 2011-09-20 11:55:38

Or so it feels already. Whilst Sibos officially opens 9am on Monday, the reality is slightly different. The logistics mean that the conversations start on the planes flying in. I sat next to one of my favourite journalists, Jane Copper from The Banker, I made a new contact in Fiserv in the seat behind me [...]

Obama Bares His Knuckles, Pushes for Tax Hikes to Help Shrink the Deficit

Updated: 2011-09-19 19:23:24

The White House's plan for narrowing the federal budget gap relies on a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans. Here's why Republicans should be worried.

The FTC File Suit To Crack Down on Abuses by Internet Payday Lenders

Updated: 2011-09-19 00:22:26

I recently presented a paper at the University of San Francisco School of Law, after which Professor Jesse Markham sent me a link about the FTC’s power to regulate payday loans. I have been a bit fixated on what the...

Believing Pain and Fear Outside

Updated: 2011-09-16 20:03:55

But this whole living will thing actually has a way to go -- my latest Dealbook column, up now.

First Look at PayPal’s Mobile Strategy

Updated: 2011-09-16 16:14:04

With preparations for SIBOS (see Gareth’s earlier blog), it would have been easy to miss PayPal’s announcement this week amongst all the other pre-SIBOS press releases. And it would have been a mistake, because it is important. PayPal talked about “re-imagining money” and “new normal in retail”. Often such platitudes don’t mean much, but if PayPal can implement [...]

Call for Papers: Financial Institutions and Consumer Financial Services Section

Updated: 2011-09-16 16:01:40

There is still time to submit for this Call for Papers -- the extended window is closing on September 20. In addition to the Call for Papers, the section program at the Annual Meetings of the Association of American Law...

Conference on the Debt Crisis in the Eurozone

Updated: 2011-09-16 15:47:06

If you happen to be in Reykjavik or thereabouts in early October--or scouting the web for papers putting Europe in perspective--this looks like a wonderful conference, not least for bringing economists, finance, policy, and legal types together in one place...

Canada, here we come

Updated: 2011-09-16 11:42:46

It’s that time again where the payments industry decamps for a week of meetings and parties under the banner of Sibos. This year it’s the turn of Toronto. For those of you have not been, it’s like no other conference I’ve been to in the payments industry. Whilst Cartes is larger in terms of visitor numbers, [...]

Lehman's Legacy: Three Years Later, the Financial System Remains a Powderkeg

Updated: 2011-09-15 21:27:43

The investment bank's collapse three years ago exposed key risks in the global financial system. Have we learned anything since then?

Traders Behaving Badly: UBS "Rogue" Ranks Among Biggest Money-Losers

Updated: 2011-09-15 17:50:45

The Swiss banking giant says one its employees lost roughly $2 billion in unauthorized trading. Here's a look at other traders who cost their companies big bucks.

Is PFM The Future of Online Banking?

Updated: 2011-09-13 21:43:39

You will have to read my new report to find out the full answer. Although PFM solutions have been in existence for several years, adoption is pitiful. To give you an idea, only 3.8% of users across large banks and software vendors have been active in the last 30 days. It’s a horrific statistic, and [...]