And the Winner Is…
In a recent conversation a colleague asked, “What do you think will be the impact of the election on regional banks?” Of course the most accurate answer is, “It depends.” It depends on which party wins…
In a recent conversation a colleague asked, “What do you think will be the impact of the election on regional banks?” Of course the most accurate answer is, “It depends.” It depends on which party wins…
In 1950 Ray Bradbury, the great science fiction writer, published a short story titled, “The Veldt.” A link to the 20-minute read is here. Bankers should read it as a cautionary tale. The story tells of a…
Well over a decade ago, FIC consulted with Laurentian Bank of Canada, a business bank based in Quebec. At that point they had a tagline, “Hire the banker, not the bank.” Today, most banks would avoid…
Maybe not the best, but close. And joyful. It was the fall of 1995, 40 years after the one and only time the Brooklyn Dodgers won a World Series. In fact while I don’t remember that event, but…
Follow on LinkedIn | Printer-friendly version (PDF) Writing a weekly newsletter means I am always scouring the news and searching to find a topic that, I hope, allows me to…
Earlier this month Jack Milligan of Bank Director magazine wrote an article titled, “When It Comes to Loan Quality, Who Knows?” He summarizes his view in the article’s first paragraph, “It’s still difficult to make an accurate assessment of the banking industry’s loan quality.” Jack lists a number of elements that limit the industry’s and individual bank’s ability to…
Last week I was talking with a friend discussing a financial institution (FI) that was trying to address how to move forward, given the current uncertainty and the economic pressures it faces. Banks operate with a finite number of choices for improving their future performance, and making some decisions…
I was intending to write about issues related to risk management and some of the unique challenges bankers face today. That can wait. This past Friday night, on September 11th, I took an elevator down to our package room to pick up some deliveries. Since the packages were large, the man working the desk, Armato, a slight Cuban 40 year old who always…
A recent report by “a16Z Fintech Team” from Andreessen Horowitz (AH) discusses the need for what they term “better models for SMB lending” and lays out some choices for Fintech lenders. The article presents a valuable assessment of the current state of Fintech lending, although more types of opportunities may exist for lenders than they suggest.
August 20, 2020 American Banker: “‘There’s a real premium on clock speed,’” said [Bruce] Van Saun, who is the chairman of the $180 billion-asset company [Citizens Financial]. “‘It makes you think, if we were that good on [PPP], how can we extend that to many of the other things we’re doing today?’”