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Category >> Editors Column

Feb 01
2010

Another type of “traditional”

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

There’s been a reaffirmation of late of the concept of traditional banking. While there’s no official definition of that term, our sense is that it is usually taken to mean the business of raising deposits and using them to make loans. As many people have observed, banking is a fairly simple business. Whether a person is any good at it depends largely on how carefully they lend out the money and how well they manage their cost of funds and operating expenses. It’s more complex in practice, naturally. (The article on interest rate risk, p.28, makes that clear.)
Jan 01
2010

As the second half begins

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

For more than a year the banking industry has faced the risk that its very future would be hijacked by the political reaction to the events of 2007-8. That the reaction was coming was certain. That something was needed was clear. You can’t come to the brink of financial and economic meltdown and not need changes.
Dec 01
2009

Policy by horror story (Good stories needed)

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

“I took my in-laws out for a holiday brunch and put it on my debit card. Thank God my bank had overdraft protection, because I had forgotten to transfer in money to cover the meal!”
Nov 01
2009

A window opens

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

Credit problems always develop in an economic downturn. If every bank advanced money only to those borrowers who they felt would remain unscathed through the worst-case scenario, the economy would shrink to levels of 30 years ago.
Oct 01
2009

Watch out for the little guys

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

There’s a tendency in some circles to adopt a tone of condescension in speaking about community banks; the equivalent of the owner of a big dog patting a little dog on the head, saying, “There’s a nice a little dog.

Sep 01
2009

Please, no more “czars”

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

“Excessive compensation” is a close cousin to “obscene profits.” Neither is realistically definable. They are legitimate terms. It just depends which side of the paycheck you’re on.
Aug 01
2009

Obama plan won’t vacation

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

In the closing weeks of July, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank tipped his hat to the industry by acknowledging at a press conference that the strength of the banking industry’s opposition to the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, a major component of the Obama Administration’s massive regulatory restructuring plan, had surprised him. He postponed markup of the CFPA legislation until September, in part to allow supporters of the new agency time to counter bankers’ strong objections.
Jul 01
2009

Dateline: Twitterverse

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

Britney Spears is following me, or, rather ABA Banking Journal, on Twitter.

Commentary: By Steve Cocheo, Executive Editor

Jun 01
2009

Turning point for credit cards

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

The industry just got a second slap in the face over credit cards—this one from Congress. The new legislation imposes all sorts of restrictions regarding pricing, rates, and practices, much of it already covered by the rules issued by the Federal Reserve late last year. It looks like Congress and the Administration wanted to get credit for helping consumers on an issue that has been fanned to red hot by media attention and consumer activists.
May 01
2009

Too big to manage? Not so

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

The comment was made recently by an elected official that perhaps “too big to fail” isn’t the point, but “too big to manage” is.
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