Search Articles
Unlimited Webinar Pass
One price for the whole bank
Senate Letter on Too-Big-To-Fail, Basel a Solid Step Forward
Senate Letter on Too-Big-To-Fail, Basel a Solid Step Forward Community bankers received a double dose of good news this week with a letter from a bipartisan group of U.S. senators to financial...
Help Community Bank Voice Blossom in Washington
Help Community Bank Voice Blossom in Washington Spring is just about my favorite time of year in Washington. The weather warms and puts an end to the winter chill. The cherry blossoms bloom and...
Wall Street Lobbyists and Cicadas
Wall Street Lobbyists and Cicadas I have been in Washington for 10 years as CEO of ICBA, and I have seen everything from the Wal-Mart bank charter fight to the financial crisis and Wall Street...
Taking the Community Bank Message to Wall Street
Taking the Community Bank Message to Wall Street It’s always a privilege for me to engage in honest discussion and debate about the top issues facing our nation’s Main Street community banks. So a...
Basel III, Leverage Ratio Capitalize on Tiered Regulation
Basel III, Leverage Ratio Capitalize on Tiered Regulation It’s been a long time coming, with a few delays and several thousand comment letters, but regulators have finalized their key Basel III...
Too Big to Ale: Megabank Anticompetitive Behavior Hard to Swallow
Too Big to Ale: Megabank Anticompetitive Behavior Hard to Swallow One of the many problems related to our nation’s proliferation of too-big-to-fail banks is that it distorts our otherwise...
Megabank Fines Today, Community Bank Regulations Tomorrow
Megabank Fines Today, Community Bank Regulations Tomorrow Well that didn’t take long. A week after JPMorgan Chase paid $410 million to settle allegations that it manipulated energy markets, the...
Wall Street Offers No Shortage of Reasons to Take On Too-Big-To-Fail
Wall Street Offers No Shortage of Reasons to Take On Too-Big-To-Fail With the too-big-to-fail threat continuing to hang over the U.S. financial system, the question on the minds of many Wall Street...
(Double) Standards of Accountability
(Double) Standards of Accountability While much of the nation’s financial policy cognoscenti spent last week musing on the lessons learned since the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, some FDIC officials...
Chairman Bernanke Reports Progress in Fight for Tiered Regulation
Chairman Bernanke Reports Progress in Fight for Tiered Regulation Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had some positive things to say this week about the nation’s community banks. Noting that...
Gridlock? Congress Getting Along on Community Bank Reg Relief
Gridlock? Congress Getting Along on Community Bank Reg Relief What gridlock? While bipartisanship can be hard to come by here in Washington, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have...
Seize the Month: April is Go Time for Community Banks
Seize the Month: April is Go Time for Community Banks Community bankers know we can’t rest on our laurels. We have to strike while the iron is hot—whether it is a loan to a local small business or...
Rumor Mongering Always Leads to Bad Results
Rumor Mongering Always Leads to Bad Results It’s amazing what you can learn if you just ask. The recent needless confusion over a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau information request is a prime...
Community Bank Customer Service Can’t Be Shut Down
Community Bank Customer Service Can’t Be Shut Down The government shutdown has come to an end, though the debate over federal policies and spending is far from over. Among the chattering classes,...
The Sound of Progress
The Sound of Progress I’ll admit it—I’ve been told a time or two that I march to the beat of my own drum. And that’s perfectly fine by me. As you well know, we at ICBA proudly represent just one...
The Dangers of Regulatory Overreach and Those Who Exploit It
The Dangers of Regulatory Overreach and Those Who Exploit It In case you missed it, American Banker this week launched a series that sheds some light on the unintended consequences that can result...
ICBA "Going Postal”
ICBA "Going Postal” I’m all for outside-the-box thinking. Fresh ideas and brainstorming are as important in community banking as they are in any other business. But sometimes an idea comes along...
Too-Big-To-Jail Talk is Cheap
Too-Big-To-Jail Talk is Cheap Here in Washington, I hear a lot of talk. People will say just about anything and claim it’s the truth, no matter what the record shows. Well, I’m from the Show-Me...
Note to Regulators: Exercising Fiduciary Responsibility is Not a Community Bank Board Problem - But You Might Make It One!
Note to Regulators: Exercising Fiduciary Responsibility is Not a Community Bank Board Problem - But You Might Make It One! As community bankers we have a fiduciary responsibility to our customers...
Let’s Cut Call Report Paperwork Down to Size
Let’s Cut Call Report Paperwork Down to Size Regulatory paperwork continues to occupy far too many community bank resources that could be dedicated to improving local communities, and the problem...