re: Why are banks hoarding so much $$$?

I didn't read your links, but a quick guess would be that capital requirements for large banks are increasing exponentially. By 2019 Basel 3 will be fully in place. They have a few years to ramp up, but by 2019 their capital levels are going to have to be pretty high. I forget exactly what the numbers are (been a couple of years), but I think a mega bank could be required to hold up to 13% total capital. They're likely just building up those reserves.

Of course, there have been immense operational losses in the industry over the past few years that drives everyone's AMA capital up in one way or another.