Bankshot

Decentralized finance, or DeFi, could revolutionize the way money works, how it is controlled and how its power is distributed. But is DeFi the future or hype?

The banking industry has been working to beat back a proposal that would require banks to disclose certain customer account information to the Internal Revenue Service. But even if they succeed, the problem of unreported taxable income isn't going away.  

Immigrants transfer billions overseas every year, and that market is dominated by nonbanks, crypto and fintechs. Those services could help banks get more customers in the door, but it’s easier said than done.

Many fintech companies are offering quality, low-cost services to people who are left out of mainstream banking. But low-income consumers face barriers that technology alone can't solve. Featuring: Jennifer Tescher, President and CEO, Financial Health Network Joseph Bayen, Founder and CEO, GrowCredit Kathryn Petralia, co-founder, Kabbage Jelena McWilliams, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Dan Henry, CEO, Green Dot Terri Friedline,Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Michigan  Darrin Williams, CEO, Southern Bancorp.

The Basel III reforms initiated after 2008 and the hard-fought Basel IV provisions completed in 2017 made banks more resilient. International consensus on new challenges like climate change and cybersecurity could be impossible.

Hackers are targeting banks more frequently and more effectively. There’s not much the industry or government can do about it. Featuring: Paul Benda, SVP of Operational Risk and Cybersecurity, American Bankers Association Mark Stamford, CEO, Occamsec Nathan Taylor, Partner, Morrison & Foerster Brian Vecci, Field CTO, Varonis Chris Wolfe, Managing Director, Head of North American Banks, Fitch Ratings

Digital currencies are exploding in popularity but are still a long way from being integrated into the financial system.   Featuring:  Marc Hochstein, executive editor, Coindesk Greg Baer, President and CEO, Bank Policy Institute Karen Petrou, managing partner, Federal Financial Analytics Jo Ann Barefoot, founder and CEO, Alliance for Innovative Regulation   Peter Dugas, executive director, Capco Thomas Hoenig, distinguished senior fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Institutional independence is a big part of what makes the Federal Reserve work. But quantitative easing, new forays into climate and digital currency and a blurring of the line between monetary and fiscal policy might make that independence harder to maintain.

Indigenous reservations have some of the highest concentrations of unbanked Americans in the country. But tribes are finding ways to get things done — with or without banks.

Europe has encouraged adoption with rules that put consumers in control of the way their data is shared among banks, fintechs and third-party vendors. Whether the U.S. can make similar progress without its own rules is unclear.

Regulators around the world are exploring how to assess banks' exposures to climate change risks. But they'll have to tackle legal, economic and modeling problems that don’t have obvious solutions.  

Looming defaults and the potential for heavier regulatory scrutiny have prompted banks to pull back from the sector. Is that a good thing?

Retail investors revolted against institutional investors by buying heavily shorted stocks in January, reanimating regulatory concerns about short selling and market manipulation. But is shorting a check on speculation, or a driver of it?

The Federal Reserve has the authority to lend to nonbanks in an emergency, and it isn't afraid to use it. But is that authority too broad — or too narrow?

Like in the industries its reporters cover, the lack of Black representation in business and financial media has created blind spots. Predominantly white newsrooms often miss stories about systemic racism or fail to reach an audience of more than one demographic. In the wake of this summer's Black Lives Matter protests, there are serious implications for financial services, the reporters covering them — and an emerging group of professionals creating their own media. What can journalists like us learn from these Black voices? 

Asset and capital allocations often exacerbate systemic racism across the financial services in some surprising ways. Innovators in the fields of asset management, banking, impact investing and pensions suggest there are also many ways to disrupt the cycle. Shifting the flow of capital could help reduce or eliminate institutional barriers and racial discrimination.

President-elect Joe Biden will likely have to contend with a Republican-controlled Senate. That could have important implications for his approach to financial services policy.

The lack of Black representation in the financial services stems from two interconnected problems. Black professionals face significant hurdles once they break into the industry. And the presence of nearly 175,000 Black financial professionals displays that their widespread absence at the upper executive ranks isn’t a product of there being an insufficient talent pool.

The success of some fintechs in getting bank charters this year only underscores how onerous the process remains for many others. That’s unlikely to change unless policymakers reconsider what it means to be a bank.

Racism at the branch and in the workplace makes it harder for Black Americans to gain access to financial services. In the second episode of the Access Denied podcast, innovators and researchers from the fields of human resources, banking and wealth management explain how industries leave people out — and what needs to be done to change it.