Fallout from Republican Shot at Big Banks

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Catching fire: For a Depression-era law, the Glass-Stegall Act has certainly gone prime time in 2016. Observers spent much of Tuesday scratching their heads over the GOP's decision to include in its party platform bringing back the provision. The law, which separated commercial and investment banking activities, was repealed under President Bill Clinton. The New York Times calls the proposal, which has also been backed by many on the left, "almost a code word in both parties for poking a finger in Wall Street's eye" and "calculated to grab headlines." (Republicans have certainly succeeded on the headlines front.) Still, the paper rightly notes "party platforms are often irrelevant."

But the move does underscore the fact that bankers may have fewer friends in Washington these days. The "changes in tone suggest that investors need to think a little differently about what a Republican win would mean for them," according to the Wall Street Journal.

Separately, the Journal details the "secret history" of Glass-Stegall – securities firms on Wall Street initially embraced the law when it was passed in 1933. "The law was seen as protecting the specialized securities firms from having to compete with large national banks funded by cheap retail and commercial deposits," the paper says. That all changed over the decades, of course, as banks and investment firms began to look more alike. American Banker has its own take on the issue.

Could have been worse: Goldman Sachs posted a strong profit of $1.82 billion on Tuesday, but revenue slipped 13% to $7.93 billion from a year earlier. Staff cuts and reduced risk-taking are making the bank look more "ordinary" – on par with Wall Street competitors. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, American Banker

Wall Street Journal

Money machine: Researchers at the Bank of England released a paper this week that advocates the central bank produce its own digital currency.

Filling the void: Bank of the Ozarks, a small Arkansas lender, is expanding its commercial lending footprint across the country – in places like Miami and Houston. It's finding itself up against less competition, because the bank "is diving headlong into some of the shakiest commercial-property markets in the U.S. at a time when investors are beginning to worry that the real-estate rally of the past few years is coming to an end," the paper says.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER