Banking on future growth: Moin A Siddiqi analyses banking trends across the Middle East region.
Facing new challenges The banking industry worldwide has to face new challenges rising from globalisation, deregulation, financial innovations and the Internet revolution. The fast changing environment has, over the past decade, had a profound effect on leading banks in both mature and emerging markets. The era of...

The Community Reinvestment Act and the economics of regulatory policy.
INTRODUCTION The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (1) ("CRA") represents an attempt to shape the economic and social condition of communities by altering the economic policies of depository institutions. The CRA was passed to discourage disinvestment in urban, typically minority areas and to ensure that all communities,...

Relegating letters of credit to the dustbin: credit insurance and advanced financing are gaining wider favor in global trade, and sound risk management practices are finding favor with U.S. exporters. Banks and underwriters are cheering because the trend increases lending capacity and enhances an underused asset class.
Overt lack of trust is no way to start any relationship, but that is exactly how international markets are coming to view traditional letters of credit (LC). Once the sine que non of international trade, the LC has largely been supplemented and even replaced in Europe by trade credit...

Fringe financial services, inner-city banking & community-based solutions (1).
Abstract This article considers the cost of fringe financial services--including payday lenders, cheque-cashers, pawnbrokers--for individuals and an inner-city community as compared with mainstream bank services. The analysis finds that the significant costs associated with fringe banking explain a variety of community-based models that seek, in different ways,...

Clearing and settlement at Norges Bank--a historical review.
The Norwegian payment system processes more than three million payment transactions every day. On some days the number of transactions can be far higher. The transactions are cleared and settled in the Norwegian payment system. In the clearing process, a number of transactions are offset against each other. In...

The deregulation of usury ceilings, rise of easy credit, and increasing consumer debt.
I. INTRODUCTION Few laws regarding economic regulation have a longer history than usury laws. (1) Strong attempts to limit usury punctuate Western history. Within the last century, however, these attempts have quickly unraveled. A convergence of factors in the industrialized world has produced the groundbreaking phenomenon of...

The Impact of Banking on Society is Awesome. (Industry Report: Banking).
Overview The banking system with all its complexities, challenges and opportunities touches virtually all aspects of our daily lives. Using a credit card to make a purchase, writing a personal or business check, paying bills and moving funds online or accessing your funds through an automatic teller...

The CRA implications of predatory lending.
INTRODUCTION Traditionally, policymakers, communities, and industry have regarded the Community Reinvestment Act ("CRA") (1) as a positive mandate for banks and thrifts (2) to do good by increasing investment in low- and moderate-income ("LMI") neighborhoods. (3) The specific purpose of CRA is to encourage federally insured depository...

Two-tier banking: the rise of fringe banks in Winnipeg's inner city.
Abstract This paper uses results from a study of fringe banking of an inner city neighbourhood in Winnipeg to understand the growth of fringe banks. While fringe financial services are more expensive than mainstream bank services, the numbers of fringe banks are growing in Winnipeg and other...

Retail banking loan portfolio equilibrium mix: a Markov Chain model analysis.
Abstract: The variance analysis of actual loan sanctions with the non-documented method of loan allocation of the selected retail bank, over a period of 24 months, revealed that there is a scope to improve their income earnings. Realizing its importance Markov Chain Market Share model was applied to inter...