Labeling Dodd-Frank: American Banker Editor in Chief Neil Weinberg inspired readers to revisit Dodd-Frank when he relayed a recent discussion with a pre-and-post crisis risk manager. "It would have made a lot more sense to bring back Glass-Steagall," the risk manager told him, implying that Dodd-Frank was ineffective and essentially regulatory overkill. One reader agreed Dodd-Frank had done little to curb risk in the financial system. "Going on six years after the financial crisis, government-insured megabanks are still acting like casinos," the commenter wrote. Others thought the cycle of crises-followed-by-over-regulation would be hard to break. "Until we begin to see more regulators who have been bankers and more bankers who have held regulatory roles, we will always see the pendulum of over-correction and under-correction in banking policy and practices," one reader commented. Another noted: "Until we begin to see federal financial regulators who will vigorously enforce regulations on banks during times of relative calm, we will undoubtedly see the same regulators who will vigorously advocate capitulating to the banks in times of trouble."
Questioning Some Schools of Thought: Frequent contributor Mayra Rodriguez Valladares countered lawmakers argument that regulation was hindering U.S. banks global competitiveness. Ahead of a House subcommittee meeting on the topic she wrote, "While imperfect, it is important to remember the main reason legislators passed Dodd-Frank was because of the havoc that badly managed, undercapitalized U.S. financial institutions and their use of unregulated, opaque over-the-counter derivatives wreaked on the global economy. Implementation is critical to reform Wall Street and to protect consumers." Meanwhile, risk management expert Richard J. Parsons urged banks to rethink mandatory retirement ages for board directors and Jim Parrott of the Urban Institute and Mark Zandi of Moodys Analytics argued that policymakers have their priorities crossed on private capital for housing. "The bottom line is that policymakers should focus less on the government's retreat from the mortgage market and more on creating the kind of investment environment needed to attract significant private capital," they wrote. "Only then will we be able to strike a healthier balance between private capital and taxpayer risk."
In Case You Missed It: Dave Martin of Financial Supermarkets Inc. argued that in a self-service world, human interaction at banks is a differentiator and Michael Cohn of the WolfPAC Solutions Group outlined when small banks should hire a CRO.
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