New Report: Key Trends in Retail Banking
Cornerstone Advisors research director Ron Shevlin just published a very worthwhile report on some important trends in retail banking. The biggest takeaways for me: Digital banks…
The Feds Should Ease Up on Wells Fargo
Banking regulators’ treatment of Wells Fargo over its fake-account scandal is getting ridiculous. Bloomberg reported last month that the asset cap that the Fed imposed on Wells Fargo…
Sherrod Brown Goes on the Attack, Badly
The inauguration hasn’t even happened yet, and already the Democrats are mindlessly flailing against the Trump administration. Thus last week Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio…
From the CBA, Sensible Talk on Reforming the CFPB
My pal Richard Hunt, head of the Consumer Bankers Association, says in today’s USAToday that even in the wake of last week’s court ruling that found…
The FDIC Lays an Egg
Here’s one for your mental “Regulatory Follies” folder. Last week the FDIC retroactively downgraded the “Satisfactory” CRA rating it had given Bancorpsouth back in 2013 to…
F.N.B.’s Prototypically Bad Acquisition
Numerous studies have shown over the years that most acquisitions, both inside and outside the banking industry, destroy shareholder value for the buyers. In my experience,…
A Wrongheaded Take on the Effects of Dodd-Frank
From Reuters, on Wednesday: Banking rules meant to protect the U.S. financial system from collapse are not harming the economy or damaging financial markets, the chairman…
Chart of the Week: A Long-Term Perspective on Long-Term Rates
Some of us of a certain age, who recall that long-term interest rates were in double-digits not so long ago, can’t help but assume that the…
Cam Fine Is Still Wrong About The Big Banks
The ICBA’s Cam Fine is at it again. Here he is in Friday’s American Banker: While representatives of the largest financial institutions portray their firms as indispensable…
New Lunacy From the FHA
From Tuesday’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel: First-time buyers and former homeowners in South Florida may be eligible for 100 percent down payment assistance through a new program…