If you think relations between the U.S. and Russia are strained now, consider the 1980s. It was the culmination of the Cold War—an arms race between the U.S. and the USSR. Tensions were high, and there was one thing keeping everything in balance: mutually assured destruction, or MAD. The basic premise was this: if the [...]
Originally published on CUInsight.com. Even the best kitchen in the world—equipped with a brick oven, top-of-the-line equipment, and the sharpest knives—can’t turn a bad cook into a great one (even though it could help). The substandard cook still needs to learn some critical cooking skills before the dream kitchen can produce the pièce de résistance. [...]
Part 2 of 2 When it comes to compliance, sometimes knowing the “why” can make all the difference. In this two-part series, Ken Agle provides some background on how the gold standard, historical wars, economic development, and other events have impacted modern transaction limitations. In Part 1 of this series, Ken gave a brief overview [...]
Part 1 of 2 When it comes to compliance, sometimes knowing the "why" can make all the difference. In Part 1 of this series, Ken Agle provides some background on how the gold standard, historical wars, economic development, and other events have had upon modern transaction limitations. “My financial institution stopped paying interest on my [...]
Winston Churchill once said, “To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.” Financial institutions can surely relate to that quote—compliance is certainly the slow and laborious task of years and then your examiner comes in and can, so it [...]
Originally published on CUInsight.com. I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for a good sports movie. One of my favorites is Miracle, the 2004 movie starring Kurt Russell, who plays Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey squad, which (and I’ll try to avoid any spoilers here, but the movie’s title might have given [...]
Originally published on CUInsight.com. In the backlash against the misdeeds of large financial institutions that were deemed responsible for much of the economic downturn of the past half decade, the entire financial industry has been saddled with escalating regulatory burdens. And the regulatory onslaught is not over yet. While the rise in regulations is perhaps [...]
When it comes to fair lending, many institutions leave the picture of their performance incomplete—they know their own numbers, but they fail to give these numbers context based on a comparison to such factors as population, income, age, gender, etc. It’s similar to those word puzzles we’ve all seen: Fi@r L3nidng A@nyls1s Although these words [...]
I am not terribly skilled in the art form known as golf. Though I have a set of clubs, and I do swing them every now and then, clearly, I could not be considered a Golfer with a capital G. That said, a friend of mine tipped me onto a new-to-me golf phenomenon that looks [...]
I've become a huge fan of a reality show called Restaurant Impossible. It features a host, Chef Robert Irvine, who visits a restaurant in some level of disarray and attempts to completely overhaul it in 48 hours. This overhaul is usually filled with tears and trauma. After all, some of these restaurant owners have worked [...]
