Dealing With Red Tape?

How will lenders cope with increased oversight requirements?

The reaction to recent developments in the mortgage lending world seems to dominate the headlines. Each morning, the front page of Wall Street Journal brings news of yet another lender closing their doors or “suspending” operations. Meanwhile, various opinion pieces are calling for new government regulations.

Whether we see new requirements from the government or simply change to appease frightened stockholders, the coming months and years are sure to add complexity to an already cumbersome process. The companies that remain as lenders will likely see huge volumes of loans even if the overall number of loans decreases simply by taking volume that might have been distributed to those who have left the industry. These volumes are likely to be sustained since it will be very difficult for any new players to raise money to enter the market.

Traditionally, lenders have added headcount to address up ticks in volume.

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Llyod’s Paperless Inbox

There is an interesting article I read in today’s Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118696052762295422.html (Reg Req. Sorry) about Lloyd’s that I thought I would mention.  There were a couple things that stood out to me:

• Kudos to Lloyd’s for having vision to hire talent over experience.  Their CEO Richard Ward, had no previous experience in insurance but a proven track record of problem solving.  Insurance companies tend to be some of the most closed organizations to outside talent in business.
• Mr. Ward is waging a war against paper to gain efficiencies.  He estimates Lloyd’s was generating 4 tons of paper EACH DAY.

After reading the article, I was wondering if any of you had any stories about companies that seem to have good long term strategies for dealing with paper?

Free Capitalism Lessons From China

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.
Adam Smith

I ordered some small key chain LED lights for a business associate a couple weeks ago. He was going to go to a trade show type of event and wanted something with his new company’s logo on it to give away. He had seen some lights I gave away for a similar purpose a few weeks before and thought they would fit the bill. Since I had ordered from these folks before, I offered to place the order for him. The company that makes the lights is based in Shenzhen, China.

The lights are well made, VERY bright and cheap as heck. I figure for marketing chachki, function beats form. These lights are something that someone might actually USE rather than throw in with another million free pens that never seem to write well. I have seen these lights in stores (I would name them, but don’t want to deal with lawyers) for $12-$15 each. With custom color printing, shipping etc, I got them for just under $0.60 each. With a 500 piece minimum on custom printed items, that came to just south of $300.00 delivered. None of that is enough to inspire me to write a blog post about them though.