Council Members in this Study Group: 315
This study group may include experts knowledgeable on commercial banking, retail banking, asset management, mortgages, consumer finance, exchanges, capital markets, transaction processing, credit cards, insurance, and business services.
Leading institutions connect with members of this Study Group through GLG
Nathaniel FinkinManaging Partner and Principal
Finkin Capital Advisors![]()
Nathaniel Finkin is the Managing Partner and a Principal of Finkin Capital Advisors, a firm started in 2008 that provides consulting and advisory services in the areas of debt and equity arrangements, capital structure, cash flow management, efficiency,...
Consultant
Duncan McDonald![]()
Duncan MacDonald is an independent consultant to financial institutions, corporations, and think tanks on payments, privacy and data protection, alternate dispute resolution, bankruptcy, class action reform, antitrust, joint venture, plain language, and...
Bill BradwayFounder & Managing Director
Bradway Research, LLC![]()
Bill Bradway is the Founder and Managing Director of Bradway Research. Previously, Mr. Bradway lead the Banking Practice at Financial Insights, a strategic advisory firm to banks, insurance companies, asset management firms, securities brokerages, and...
Gazi ErcelPresident
Ercel Global Advisory![]()
Gazi Ercel is Principal and Founder of Ercel Global Advisory in Istanbul, Turkey, where he provides consultancy services for governments, financial institutions, non-government organizations and selective clients on international financial architecture...
Managing Associate
AURIEMMA CONSULTING GROUP INC![]()
Paul Pinto is a Managing Associate at Auriemma Consulting Group, the leading card payment consulting firm. Mr. Pinto is responsible for a number of roundtable workgroups in the credit card, auto finance and retail banking industries covering the accounting,...
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What GAO card study means to interchange legislation & NY lawsuit.
November 20, 2009
GAO: Let Card-Fee System Stand | online.wsj.com
The GAO study of bankcard interchange fees is a mixed bag for the industry. It upholds the practice (in contradiction to the lawsuit against the practice in New York) but points to numerous ideas about how its excesses can be reduced. The latter could propel the Welsh bill in Congress toward enactment. It would allow merchant actions to pressure issuers to accept lower interchange fees. The study's ideas could also play a role in crafting a settlement of the NY suit.
Populist Politics Threaten Card Industry Recovery & Survival
November 19, 2009
US Credit Card Sector Faces Punitive Hostility | www.ft.com
The letter in today's FT (I am one of the authors) questions whether new and proposed legislation by Congress can kill the credit card industry.
Retail discounts won't revive our economy
November 9, 2009
Catering to the Recession Mentality | online.wsj.com
The article is about the struggle of retailers to lure consumers to stop worrying about the economy and start spending again. Their bait is aggressive discounting. The question not only is whether it will work but whether other factors will wipe out the best laid discounts.
Loss of arbitration of cardholder disputes could sink card industry
October 15, 2009
Turmoil in Arbitration Empire Upends Credit-Card Disputes | online.wsj.com
Although the article is about an investor's failed bet on arbitration of card disputes, the bigger fail will belong to the card industry -- the 1 billion bank and private label cards held by 200 million consumers. Issuers of those cards have all but lost the right require arbitration and the enormous protection arbitration brings against class actions. With the NAF gone kaput and the AAA refusing to fill the void, issuers now face massive, potentially crippling new risks .
Threats to make CARD Act worse and to regulate interchange fees
October 6, 2009
Banks Face Pressure to Bend on New Agency - American Banker Article | www.americanbanker.com
The article is about the wrangling in Congress to enact a so-called "Consumer Protection Agency." But it carries a threat to bankers. If they don't stop trying to block a CPA, Congress will enact piecemeal bills that will prevent card issuers from being able to reprice in response to the CARD Act and will regulate interchange pricing downward.