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Reputations Intact: Proud To Be a Community Banker
Reputations Intact: Proud To Be a Community Banker One of the sad facts of this modern world in which we live is that we are bombarded with "messaging" nearly 24 hours a day. Our senses are...
Wanted: Sanity in the Exam Environment
Wanted: Sanity in the Exam Environment Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Given that definition, to many observers ICBA’s...
Persistence Pays Off on Small Business Jobs Act
Persistence Pays Off on Small Business Jobs Act The long and winding road of passing legislation to stimulate the small-business sector came to a successful end this week as the House voted to send...
Credit Unions Having Their Cake and Eating it Too
Credit Unions Having Their Cake and Eating it Too It’s official: The nation’s credit unions get to have their tax-exempt cake and eat it too! Federal regulators last Friday afternoon announced a...
A Robo-Sign of the Times
A Robo-Sign of the Times The so-called Masters of the Universe are at it again. Some of the same large financial institutions that caused the financial crisis have engaged in practices that could...
We the People
We the People We the People go to the polls today to engage in our sacred, inalienable right. The outcome of today’s midterm congressional elections will select the citizens who will come to...
A Sea Change
A Sea Change Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh called it a “sea change.” He’s right. Today the FDIC board of directors voted to base assessments on assets minus tangible capital instead...
Deal on Tax Extenders Could Offer Holiday Cheer
Deal on Tax Extenders Could Offer Holiday Cheer Bipartisanship can be hard to come by in Washington, but there are encouraging signs that Congress and the administration have heard the voice of...
Recalling the Harsh Lessons of the Past
Recalling the Harsh Lessons of the Past More than three years ago I wrote the following article on the dangers of uncontrolled competition and overconcentration in the financial markets. Having...
ICBA United to Work with Divided Congress
ICBA United to Work with Divided Congress Congress will have a new look when it returns to Washington this week. With a Republican House and Democratic Senate following November’s elections, many...
Regulatory Review Must Deliver Results
Regulatory Review Must Deliver Results It sounds like a step in the right direction. President Obama recently ordered federal agencies and departments to review regulations and to consider ways to...
“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” and Neither Does ICBA
“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” and Neither Does ICBA Usually the time I spend on a plane is a way to lose myself in a book, reflect, catch up on work or perhaps enjoy a movie. On a recent trip,...
Stop Punishing Main Street Banks and Their Customers
Stop Punishing Main Street Banks and Their Customers Hey, here’s an idea. Let’s punish the thousands of small community banks that played by the rules and stuck by their customers during the...
Love is in the Air for Community Banks
Love is in the Air for Community Banks I’m not one for schmaltzy dramas. For those of you who don’t know, I’m more likely to take in a movie with scenes from Gettysburg or Omaha Beach. But this...
ICBA Convention Recognizes America’s Financial Foundation
ICBA Convention Recognizes America’s Financial Foundation Last week several thousand community bankers met in San Diego at the national convention of the Independent Community Bankers of America....
Interchange Legislation—A Reason to Dig Deep
Interchange Legislation—A Reason to Dig Deep The will of the nation’s community bankers to make their voices heard in Congress has never ceased to amaze me. Once again, it is time for community...
Cramdown: A Bad Idea That Continues to Smolder
Cramdown: A Bad Idea That Continues to Smolder Sometimes bad ideas are like grease fires—they can be hard to extinguish for good. In fact, one bad idea that ICBA has repeatedly doused with common...
Drawing Parallels to a Nation at War With Itself
Drawing Parallels to a Nation at War With Itself I just got back from an Executive Committee meeting in the great state of New Mexico. On April 12, 1861, guns in Charleston harbor opened up on Fort...
Big-Box Stores Selling Smoke and Mirrors on Interchange
Big-Box Stores Selling Smoke and Mirrors on Interchange A recent Washington Post op-ed suggests that small businesses should be wary of the promises of big-box retailers. A study conducted by David...
Strike Zones, 60 Votes and the Interchange Amendment
Strike Zones, 60 Votes and the Interchange Amendment When I was young I was a baseball player—a southpaw pitcher. I learned early on that each umpire had a slightly different variation on the...