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Déjà Vu All Over Again
Déjà Vu All Over Again As Yogi Berra said, “Its déjà vu all over again.” JPMorgan Chase recently announced that it lost more than $2 billion in trading complex derivatives. The news of reckless...
JPMorgan Redux
JPMorgan Redux I have gotten hundreds of emails from community bankers commenting on JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion trading blunder. Below is just one example of an email I received from one of our...
Transaction Account Coverage an Urgent Issue
Transaction Account Coverage an Urgent Issue At ICBA’s recent Washington Policy Summit, I told community bankers gathered in the nation’s capital that our industry is full of passionate advocates....
Small Business is Our Business
Small Business is Our Business Community bankers have a positive story, and we love to tell it. So it’s always a pleasure when others help us get the word out about how community banks contribute...
Here They Go Again
Here They Go Again I’m sorry, but if you repeat a lie often enough, it still doesn’t make it the truth. That hasn’t stopped Wall Street apologists from continuing the stale assault that the...
Trillions for Wall Street, but not one cent for Main Street
Trillions for Wall Street, but not one cent for Main Street “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.” When Robert Goodloe Harper uttered that famous statement he was referring to...
Too-Big-To-Fail is NO Laughing Matter
Too-Big-To-Fail is NO Laughing Matter Isn’t it nice that we can all look back at the financial crisis of 2008-10 and just laugh? Isn’t it about time we forgive the too-big-to-fail financial...
The Antidote to Deposit Concentration? TAG
The Antidote to Deposit Concentration? TAG I recently wrote that extending full FDIC coverage of noninterest-bearing transaction accounts is a matter of urgency. And it is. Congress has to act by...
Ending Crushing Regulatory Burden Job #1 at ICBA
Ending Crushing Regulatory Burden Job #1 at ICBA Ending the crushing regulatory burden on Main Street community banks is and has always been Job #1 at ICBA. But over the past four years, our...
ICBA Welcomes ABA to TAG Extension Effort
ICBA Welcomes ABA to TAG Extension Effort This week’s American Bankers Association announcement that it will join the ICBA-led push for extending full FDIC coverage of noninterest-bearing...
By God, That is Enough! It is Time to Stop the Madness!
By God, That is Enough! It is Time to Stop the Madness! In G.K. Chesterton’s short story titled “The Three Tools of Death,” a character named Patrick Royce says, “I give myself to the gallows; and,...
“Wall Street (and the Government) Get the Gold; Main Street Gets the Shaft”
“Wall Street (and the Government) Get the Gold; Main Street Gets the Shaft” It seems that Wall Street can take billions of taxpayer dollars on a phone call to Treasury and that Wall Street...
FDIC TAG Preparation Now Essential
FDIC TAG Preparation Now Essential For all of us who’ve spent the better part of a year calling on Congress to extend the FDIC’s Transaction Account Guarantee program, last week’s Senate vote...
Too Big To Jail?
Too Big To Jail? While senior Wall Street executives have been repeatedly tried in the court of public opinion and implicated by hundreds of whistleblowers within their own organizations, they have...
Megabanks Boost Business Portfolio—By Changing the Rules
Megabanks Boost Business Portfolio—By Changing the Rules When your competitors start moving the goalposts, you must be doing something right. A new report from one of the megabanks that contributed...
Guest Blog: As the Wall Street World Spins
Guest Blog: As the Wall Street World Spins By Terry J. Jorde With too-big-to-fail financial firms getting soaked by bad press over their risky practices and preferential treatment, it should come...
Main Street Heroes
Main Street Heroes Last week, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and David Vitter (R-La.) showed that they stand with Main Street America by filing a bill that does something real and meaningful about...
Surprise, They’re At It Again
Surprise, They’re At It Again In the latest news from the “color me unsurprised” department, JPMorgan Chase is reportedly under investigation for manipulating energy prices and lying under oath...
Doing the Right Thing
Doing the Right Thing My upbringing at home, at the military college I attended, as an officer in the Army and during my banking career infused in me the values I hold dear today—duty, honor,...
The Fair Lending Inquisition
The Fair Lending Inquisition There’s not much that Washington can do to surprise me. As a community banker for 25 years, and in my time here at ICBA, I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly of...