When economic times are good and funds are relatively easy to lend without meaningful short-term risk, most financial institutions find themselves in strong positions from a credit risk and earnings perspective. Yet, the tough lessons of lending and risk over the past 30 years have taught us many times over that economic cycles repeat. It’s [...]
Imagine two scenarios. In the first, you fly to a beautiful, remote island for a carefree week at an exclusive and all-inclusive resort. You spend the week soaking up sun on the beach, enjoying fine dining, and snorkeling in the crystal clear water. Now for scenario two. Same beautiful island, but this time, there's no [...]
One of the defining characteristics of Sherlock Holmes (besides the deerstalker hat and overcoat) is his almost superhuman powers of deduction. In the first Sherlock novel, A Study in Scarlet, Holmes says, "From a drop of water, a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other." In every [...]
Originally published on CUInsight.com In the world of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML), it all comes down to perspective. For many financial institutions, the perspective sometimes becomes locked down tight. Day in and day out, the systems look at the same things over and over again. In a sense, it’s like they’re [...]
Pendulums tend to swing, and the Fair Lending pendulum is no exception. Over the last few years, with the transition of HMDA rulemaking to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and with the CFPB's new final rule expanding HMDA data collection requirements, it's clear that the pendulum has been swinging toward a tougher regulatory environment. With [...]
Originally published on CUInsight.com When I was young, a teacher shared an analogy that has always stuck with me. I can’t exactly remember what she called it, but I’ve taken to calling it “2-D Bob Meets 3-D Jill.” My teacher started by sketching a diagram on the board that looked something like this. Bob has [...]
The annual New York City Marathon is just a little over two weeks away. If you’re planning on running in it, you hopefully began training many months ago. Unless you’ve got some superhuman characteristics, the average person can’t simply run a marathon on a whim, without any training. However, if information comes to light that [...]
Yes, summer is already over and fall is upon us. That means sweater weather, changing leaves, and pumpkin spice. But it also means the year is winding down. If it was your New Year's resolution to file at least one SAR this year, time is getting short. And if you still haven't filed any, it [...]
Originally published on CUInsight.com. Even the best kitchen in the world—equipped with a brick oven, top-of-the-line equipment, and the sharpest knives—can’t turn a bad cook into a great one (even though it could help). The substandard cook still needs to learn some critical cooking skills before the dream kitchen can produce the pièce de résistance. [...]
Spring training for Major League Baseball is long over, the regular season is winding down, and playoffs will soon be upon us. Over the course of a long season, the teams that spent their time during spring training actually training and preparing frequently find that it makes the difference between being a playoff contender and an [...]
