The Washington Post column by Secretary Timothy Geithner on April 13, 2010 was a breakdown of the failings of the financial industry, and the explanation for the necessary reforms to avert the next financial crisis. The article was clear and precise in the breakdown of the system, and the regulations to be implemented to avoid a future crisis. However, the column did not address enhancing current regulations to insure restrictive measures in different aspects of risk behavior, and the bank’s fiduciary responsibility in offering programs to meet the needs of everyone in the bank’s service area. First, the enforcement or enhancement of current regulations such as the Regulation B or Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) would prevent the banks to insure risk tolerance is not utilized to decline opportunities to the bank’s service area. First, the bank could not decline a mortgage loan applicant in their footprint of service to avert upfront risk, with the capability to invest in … [Read more...]