FINANCE, POLICY & MARKETSPublished by Paul Ivinskas
fc.The Financial CurrentDAILY INTELLIGENCEWhat matters across finance
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A path through the research

Five suggested sequences. Read at your own pace, queue articles and mark each version read.

Funding and credit pricing

Follow the path from market rates to funding contracts and loan economics.

  1. STEP 1 · Markets

    How interest rates reach loans, mortgages, deposits and bank earnings

    Begin with how rates reach cards and installment loans.

  2. STEP 2 · Banking

    Interest rates and deposits: beta, migration and bank funding sensitivity

    Separate deposit pricing from the speed of repricing.

  3. STEP 3 · Banking

    Warehouse funding: how loans move from origination to sale

    See how eligibility and covenants constrain funding.

  4. STEP 4 · Banking

    Loan sales and forward flows: funding, distribution and the customer relationship

    Trace the economics and risks retained after a sale.

  5. STEP 5 · Markets

    Risk-adjusted returns: comparing lending, payments and financial relationships

    Bring expected losses, operating costs and capital together.

Underwriting and affordability

Connect borrower capacity, credit decisions, product controls and observed performance.

  1. STEP 1 · Credit

    Cash-Flow Underwriting: Adoption, Performance & Risk

    Start with variable income and transaction-data limitations.

  2. STEP 2 · Policy

    Adverse-action explanations: understandable decisions and accurate reasons

    Connect decisions to accurate, specific explanations.

  3. STEP 3 · Policy

    Military Lending Act: total borrowing cost, customer access and product design

    Understand a concrete borrower-protection control framework.

  4. STEP 4 · Credit

    Second-look lending: customer choice, completed sales and the financing waterfall

    Assess incremental approvals and routing incentives.

  5. STEP 5 · Credit

    Vintage analysis: separating growth, seasoning and lasting customer value

    Learn how to compare outcomes across origination cohorts.

Banking, supervision and capital

Build a view of responsibilities, supervisory assessments and regulatory constraints.

  1. STEP 1 · Payments

    Inside Sponsor Banking: Partnerships, Economics & Oversight

    Map who controls funds, customer records and service providers.

  2. STEP 2 · Banking

    CAMELS: understanding bank resilience and its wider financial implications

    Understand the six supervisory dimensions and public-data limits.

  3. STEP 3 · Policy

    Basel III re-proposal: bank resilience, competition and the allocation of capital

    Separate proposed capital changes from binding requirements.

  4. STEP 4 · Policy

    Open banking and Section 1033: customer choice, data access and an unsettled timetable

    Follow data access, authorization and the stayed compliance clock.

  5. STEP 5 · Policy

    Model risk across finance: pricing, liquidity, valuations and SR 26-2

    Connect model use to governance, validation and change control.

Payments & financial infrastructure

Understand how money moves, how payment services create value and where responsibilities sit.

  1. STEP 1 · Payments

    Instant payments: customer value, working capital and operating choices across FedNow and RTP

    Start with settlement speed, availability and the customer payment journey.

  2. STEP 2 · Payments

    ACH returns and reversals: reliable payments, error correction and customer access to funds

    Compare account-to-account payment permissions, returns and corrections.

  3. STEP 3 · Payments

    Inside Sponsor Banking: Partnerships, Economics & Oversight

    Understand how banks and technology partners divide responsibilities.

  4. STEP 4 · Payments

    Tokenized money: comparing deposits, stablecoins and useful payment services

    Distinguish tokenized deposits from stablecoins before comparing payment use cases.

Mortgage & merchant finance

Explore two forms of purchase financing, from borrower affordability to distribution and funding.

  1. STEP 1 · Policy

    Ability to repay and qualified mortgages: borrower resilience, loan access and marketability

    Begin with the relationship between repayment capacity and mortgage design.

  2. STEP 2 · Policy

    Mortgage originator compensation: incentives, borrower choice and loan cost

    Consider how distribution incentives influence borrower choice.

  3. STEP 3 · Markets

    Promotional finance: merchant sales, lender returns and the customer’s repayment path

    Shift to merchant finance and the economics of a promotional offer.

  4. STEP 4 · Credit

    Merchant non-delivery: customer remedies, refund operations and financing exposure

    Follow what happens when a financed purchase is not delivered or is refunded.

  5. STEP 5 · Banking

    Loan sales and forward flows: funding, distribution and the customer relationship

    Connect origination to loan-sale economics and retained responsibilities.

These are editorial reading sequences, not completion requirements. Browse the full research library →