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Cockroaches and Community Banks
Cockroaches and Community Banks The exterminators are at it again. Another “pundit” is spraying around the latest prediction on the demise of the community banking industry. This particular...
Merchants Having it Both Ways on Interchange and Fraud
Merchants Having it Both Ways on Interchange and Fraud A recent security breach helps demonstrate that when it comes to fraud and interchange price fixing, merchants apparently are looking to have...
Regulatory Burden, Community Banks, and Voices
Regulatory Burden, Community Banks, and Voices There is no doubt that community banks are suffering under a plethora of stifling and, in many cases, unnecessary regulations. For several decades...
Assessment Savings a Testament to Community Bank Resilience
Assessment Savings a Testament to Community Bank Resilience For years we made the case that the deposit-insurance assessment base is unfair for community banks. And for years no one seemed to...
One Size Does Not Fit All
One Size Does Not Fit All The community bank business model is nothing like the Wall Street business model. So why would we want Wall Street firms or mortgage banks to speak for us any more than...
New Report Sheds Light on Wall Street Inequity
New Report Sheds Light on Wall Street Inequity I highly encourage community bankers to read this week’s report from Bloomberg Markets Magazine on the financial assistance provided by federal...
Outrage
Outrage Wall Street Gets the Gold; Main Street Gets the Shaft! We all suspected this, and now it is public. More than 1,000 community banks suffered severe damage as a result of their GSE preferred...
Underdog Champs as Gritty as ICBA
Underdog Champs as Gritty as ICBA Anyone who knows me knows that I am a fanatic St. Louis Cardinals fan. So I was in baseball heaven last Friday night. And it got me to thinking about the Cardinals...
Is this Justice?
Is this Justice? A recent New York Times article exposes the double standard in regard to enforcement actions between community banks and too-big-to-fail institutions. The article finds that...
Fines, Penalties and Settlements—Oh My!
Fines, Penalties and Settlements—Oh My! Or, How the Smalls Pay for the Sins of the Bigs A quick check of the records reveals that since the financial crisis began in 2008, Bank of America has been...
Time for a Divorce?
Time for a Divorce? In a recent edition of the American Banker “Bankthink” section, Mr. Robert H. Smith, former chairman and CEO of Security Pacific Corp., wrote an opinion piece titled “Community...
It’s About Community Banks
It’s About Community Banks Do you all recall the now-iconic Bill Clinton 1992 campaign slogan—“It’s the economy, stupid!”? Well, at ICBA, it’s the nation’s community banks, and it always will be....
Community Banks Are Our Business, Our Only Business
Community Banks Are Our Business, Our Only Business I was reviewing some legislative and regulatory items the other day, both from the recent past and current, and I noted several issues where ICBA...
Community Banks Are Financial First Responders
Community Banks Are Financial First Responders “Community banks remain a critical component of our financial system and our economy. They help keep their local economies vibrant and growing by...
Remember This: A Long History of Credit Union Mission Creep
Remember This: A Long History of Credit Union Mission Creep In case you’d forgotten, the nation’s credit unions have been making the rounds in Washington in recent weeks. There were about 5,000...
Why Not Get Behind “CFA”?
Why Not Get Behind “CFA”? Why is ICBA the only national banking trade group to push, and push hard, for passage of the Communities First Act regulatory-relief legislation (S. 1600/H.R. 1697)? And...
The Courage to Speak Out
The Courage to Speak Out The statement below made by the eminent economist J.K. Galbraith refers to the excesses on Wall Street that preceded the Great Depression, but it could have been made in...
Watergate and Regulatory Burden
Watergate and Regulatory Burden What do the infamous Watergate scandal and overwhelming regulatory burden on community banks have in common? “Follow the Money.” Many of us remember this quip from...
Diversity? Really?
Diversity? Really? In recent days there has been some buzz from various quarters about what a "diverse" banking system we have in the United States. In fact, not long ago a writer pointed out that...
Heroes
Heroes Hero is defined as a person who has performed a heroic act or service and is regarded as a role model. On Monday and Tuesday of this week in southern Indiana, I looked into the eyes of and...