http://www.institutionalriskanalytics.com Welcome to the RSS feed for "The IRA Analyst", the weekly information newsletter of Insitutional Risk Analytics. en-us info@institutionalriskanalytics.com finance RSS 2.0 generation class http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=569 15-May-2013 (This is most recent IRA Analyst edition.) - In a very rare event the FDIC seized another unit of Capitol Bancorp Ltd. of Lansing, Michigan on Tuesday May 14, 2013. Central Arizona Bank located at 7001 N Scottsdale Road, # 1000 Scottsdale, AZ, 85253 was closed by regulators. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=568 3-Apr-2013 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we take a look at the latest bank IPO filed in the US. TriState Capital Holdings in Pittsburgh, parent of Tristate Capital Bank, has filed to hold an initial public offering. Let's take a look at the profile for TriState on The IRA Bank Monitor and see what it tells us. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=567 18-Mar-2013 This week in The Institutional Risk Analyst, we hear from attorney Fred Feldkamp on the situation at JPMorgan in the wake of the report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. But first, we need to take notice of the latest efforts by the EU to end the economic crisis by haircutting insured deposits in Cyprus. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=566 11-Mar-2013 One of theme that seems to be emerging in the housing sector in 2013 is that asset prices are rising, but the housing sector is not recovering in an economic sense, particularly measured in terms of jobs, GDP or credit expansion. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=565 24-Feb-2013 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we look back at the FDIC resolution of IndyMac and how that transaction has created huge value for investors in OneWest Bank. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=564 9-Feb-2013 National security mavens have always worried that the end of the financial confidence game in Washington would come when China stops buying US Treasury paper. We used to say similar things about the Japanese. But the subprime crisis showed that the big banks are capable of destroying Washington far more effectively than even our most duplicitous foreign creditors. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=563 30-Jan-2013 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we wonder how a housing recovery can be achieved with the TBTF banks firmly in control of the US mortgage market. And we feature a comment by Bob Eisenbeis, Cumberland Advisor's Vice Chairman and Chief Monetary Economist, asking whether tomorrow's children will really pay those benefits that their parents anticipate today. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=562 21-Jan-2013 Last week's bank earnings confirms our view that 2013 is likely to be uneven when it comes to large financial institutions. Lumpy revenue and even more lumps and surprises in the earnings bucket. And, yes, the results of the TBTF zombie dance girls do tell you a good deal about the future -- if you have but the courage to look upon their faces. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=561 5-Jan-2013 When we look at the US banking system in 2013, the outlook seems to be flat to down earnings and revenue. Mortgage refinancing volumes are likely to be down significantly, creating a negative bias in bank revenue and earnings this year. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=560 17-Dec-2012 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we feature a comment by Dr. Albert M. Wojnilower of Craig Drill Capital in New York, "Falling off the Fiscal Cliff." He notes: "While the contestants joust, the economy is already falling off the fiscal cliff." http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=559 9-Dec-2012 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, IRA CEO Dennis Santiago ponders the latest stress test scenarios from federal regulators. He'll be doing a series of these comments, cutting the issue of stress testing into bite size pieces. At IRA, we've often puzzled over the selection of economic scenarios as narratives for a capital adequacy stress test scenario. When you are exploring the loss absorption power of a bank, the reason for the loss is not really relevant - except to economists. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=558 3-Dec-2012 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we hear from Eric Johnson, President of Expanse Financial in Bradenton, FL. Johnson sees a reduction in credit available in his FL real estate market, though not in the way you might expect. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=557 26-Nov-2012 We begin this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst with a report from the housing sector by Nom de Plumber, a risk professional at one of the largest private funds in the world, on the world of REO rentals. One could consider buy-to-rent as a means of generating investment returns or adding efficiency to disposals. Really depends on your perspective and who you pick as the servicer. There are some savvy private players in the special servicing channel making hay in the rental market, but don't hold your breath waiting for the GSEs to make broad and effective use of such channels for disposing of REO. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=556 19-Nov-2012 This week in The Institutional Risk Analyst, we feature a comment by veteran securities counsel Fred Feldkamp on the important role player by legal templates in the world of mortgage finance. Not only do the TBTF banks have a financial monopoly in the mortgage market thanks to Congress and the Fed, but the choice of legal configuration for residential mortgage securities also confers a considerable monopoly on the zombie banks. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=553 10-Nov-2012 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we examine the strange worlds of Basel III and US fiscal policy. These are but two examples of questions which ought to be simple matters of addition and subtraction, but instead operate in the realm of mysticism - that is to say, economics. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=552 6-Nov-2012 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we feature a discussion with Arsaell Valfells, an international investor and professor in Business and Finance at the University of Iceland. Valfells typifies the independent and conservative world view we have found among many in Iceland, seasoned with skepticism for the European Union. Will Iceland align itself with the EU over the long term? Or will the tiny nation break with Europe and align with Canada and the US? http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=551 28-Oct-2012 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, IRA co-founder and CEO Dennis Lewis Lord Santiago, comments on the risk implications of the secular increase in the bank deposit market that over the past five years. The full title of the article, "Placement Considerations for Large Deposits in Banks for Major Counterparties Including Brokerage Firms, Investment Funds, Insurance Companies, Corporations and Credit Unions," is the first in a series of articles in the IRA Professional Discussion Series. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=550 21-Oct-2012 One of the more amusing and even troubling developments in recent weeks is the general consensus that the housing market is recovering. Whether you are a consumer, a media maven or merely a lowly investor, the common view now seems to be that housing is getting ready to bounce back to 2005 levels. Would that it was true. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=549 17-Oct-2012 This week in The Institutional Risk Analyst, we take another look at the controversial jobs numbers released last week which so troubled former GE CEO Jack Welch. Looking through the eyes of Joan McCullough from East Shore Partners, we remind everybody out there who was beating on “Neutron Jack” that the numbers were pretty strange. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=548 8-Oct-2012 The Homeowner Bill of Rights launched in California may have turned the West Coast state into a judicial foreclosure state. More, the largest US banks and a host of private loan servicers and investors, are now targets for the trial bar in CA as a matter of public policy. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=547 30-Sep-2012 This issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst features comments from two outstanding observers of the various government agencies which are focused on financial markets and institutions, and which effectively control the global economy. First we reprint to the executive summary of the paper by Federal Financial Analytics, the Washington DC consulting firm headed by Karen Shaw Petrou. Next we go to Richard Alford, a regular contributor to The Institutional Risk Analyst, who like Shaw Petrou is really asking whether agencies like the Federal Reserve Board are making policy in a rational way. We asked Alford to write about the Taylor Rule and what, if any metric, the Fed is now using to justify and measure the efficacy of policy. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=546 25-Sep-2012 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we ask whether the low interest rate policy by the Fed is not increasing the political risk that we all face. And we feature a comment by Doug French on the latest extension of the federal government's guarantee shell game, namely unlimited FDIC insurance on non-interest bearing deposits or "TAG". http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=545 16-Sep-2012 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we feature a comment from veteran foreign affairs analyst Sol Sanders on the mess created by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Middle East. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=544 10-Sep-2012 In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we feature a comment from our friend Nom de Plumber, a risk analyst at a major NY bank, about the train wreck we all know as Basel III. But first we want to start off with some additional comments about the presentation by IRA Vice Chairman Christopher Whalen this Tuesday in New York at the investment conference sponsored by BCA Research. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=543 1-Sep-2012 This week in The Institutional Risk Analyst, we look at Umpqua's acquisition of Circle Bank. Then we feature a comment by Hans-Joachim Duebel, Finpolconsult, Berlin, on "Improving Fiscal Governance with Amortizing Sovereign Bonds." http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/Catalog.asp 21-May-2013 IRA has been publishing commentary on banking and finance since 2003. This link takes to you a catalog page of all these articles. http://us1.iracorpfilings.com/SEC/SEC_RECENT.asp?x=K 21-May-2013 Check on recent SEC filings with one click from your RSS reader. These lists are updated daily from the SEC EDGAR Accession file. This is an example of a component from IRA's Enterprise Tools suite. http://us1.irabankratings.com/mobile/home.asp 3-Apr-2013 Still have not discovered that you already have a powerful analytics terminal in the palm of your hand? If you have an iPhone, Android, Blackberry or other browser capable mobile device, you can use the IRA mobile app. You can read the latest IRA Analyst Newsletter on your phone using this app. Users of the IRABankRatings.com and Professional IRA Bank Monitor can even see their full reports in their phones. Click on the link to go to it now. http://us1.irabankratings.com/demo/banklooklist.asp 3-Apr-2013 Look beyond the headlines of Wall Street and see what banks real people are interested in. This link takes to you a page showing the 50 most recently requested bank demo pages on the IRA system. http://us1.institutionalriskanalytics.com/www/index.asp?submit=WhatsNew 3-Apr-2013 Stay up to date on business developments at IRA. What we are working on. Where we are meeting, greeting and speeching. http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/Forensic.asp 3-Apr-2013 According to Credit Risk Monitor, IRA has been 97% accurate indicating stress and risk at banks that eventually failed. A track record good enough for CRMZ to license IRA Counterparty Quality Scores for display alongside FRISK measures for corporate credit risk uses. http://us1.institutionalriskanalytics.com/xbrl_parser/index.asp 3-Apr-2013 The SEC has mandated that companies file Exhibit 101 Interactive Data supplements as part of financial reporting. This opens a new level of direct acess to evidentiary grade data for analytics by the financial community. Join IRA in our work to learn how to make use of this emerging commodity resource. This is a live reader that is actively surveying the SEC EDGAR system for new xbrl filings. http://us1.irabankratings.com/Cart/Request.asp 3-Apr-2013 The tool that government agencies, banks, industry compliance programs, corporation treasurers and individual depositors use to keep track of risk and stress in the banking industry. Census grade coverage. Leading, current and regulatory risk indicators. Tracks stress linearly deeper into the degradation curve. If your money is exposed, you need to cross check with this tool.