John Heltman is the Washington Bureau Chief for American Banker. John previously edited American Banker Magazine and is the creator of American Banker's narrative podcast Bankshot. He was awarded the Grand Neal, the top honor bestowed by the Jesse H. Neal Awards, in 2019 for his narrative podcast series Nobody’s Home, which examines the economic and social impact of concentrated vacant housing. He was also named the 2019 McAllister Editorial Fellow at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He is a 2005 graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland and lives in Baltimore, Md.
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The Federal Reserve has been reducing its liabilities steadily since last March, and those effects are starting to be felt. But how low it should ultimately go — and how long it can stay low — is a tricky question.
September 5 -
The regulatory overhaul for large and midsized banks could lead to stronger pressure for those banks to merge in the coming years while leaving smaller banks less competitive — and arguably less stable.
August 29 -
The lack of affordable housing is becoming an increasingly acute political and economic problem. But a few small tweaks to a Federal Housing Administration loan program could unlock prospective homeowners' potential to solve that problem for themselves.
August 22 -
The Basel III: Endgame proposal, as well as forthcoming proposals on living wills, uninsured deposits and long-term debt are coming as banks' interest rate margins are getting slimmer, loan demand is weakening and bank credit seems headed for a downgrade. That's a lot of headwinds for the banking industry.
August 15 -
Moody's decision to downgrade some banks' bond ratings isn't great news, but life will go on. The bigger and more difficult problem is shoring up U.S. sovereign debt ratings in the long-term.
August 8 -
The Federal Reserve's much-awaited Basel III proposal would raise capital significantly for the largest banks, a move that neither the international agreement nor the moment requires. Somehow that square is going to get circled.
August 1 -
With the introduction of FedNow, the Federal Reserve is out of good reasons not to mandate that banks process payments by the fastest means available.
July 25 -
A lack of affordable starter homes, increasing homelessness and stubbornly high prices for the homes that already exist have created a pickle that only careful planning and political buy-in can solve.
July 18 -
The biggest of the big banks don't like the Federal Reserve's new vision for bank capital, but the changes will hurt their regional peers more. Once again, the advantage lies with the megabanks.
July 11 -
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco president Mary Daly insisted that supervisory failures that contributed to the downfall of Silicon Valley Bank were reflective of directives handed down from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and made the case for 'agility' in bank supervision.
July 10
