Junk bonds made Michael Milken the most important and richest person on Wall Street. But they caused many large thrifts to fail. Had he listened to his professors and pursued his Ph.D. in 1970, his legacy might have been different.

As we enter one of the banking industry's most extreme cycles of deregulation, we should remember it doesn't always work, especially when supervisory police are reduced and consumer protection guardrails are removed, resulting in a high-speed lane for risk-taking banks and nonbanks.

Trump's bank regulatory team is advancing all types of wish-list reforms, some more radical than others. When, not if, the political winds change, banks should be ready for a sharp reversal, what could become a wave of "revenge regulations."

New regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act are likely to run into trouble unless they take into account the priorities of the Trump administration and its efforts to streamline the federal government.

Just as two North Carolina universities have dominated college basketball in recent decades, two banks from the Tar Heel state have dominated much of U.S. banking since 1990, turning Florida, especially, into a "banking colony."

President Trump and Elon Musk probably would not have put Rohit Chopra and his CFPB on their hit list had he run it with common sense, balancing the interests of both the financial industry and their consumers. An independent and consolidated federal consumer financial protection agency is needed, but only if a fair-minded leader runs it.

After nearly 10 years of banking my business, BofA debanked it because of overzealous anti-money-laundering enforcement. The Trump administration must bring back common sense to Bank Secrecy Act compliance.

President Trump has promised to reduce banking regulations, a form of indirect tax or "bank tariff," that will help the banking industry. But, he also plans to impose new tariffs on imports that may adversely impact agricultural and manufacturing industries and thus their banks.

The chairman of the Federal Reserve presided over the worst inflation in 40 years, generating public outrage that paved the way for Donald Trump's victory in last month's election.

With plans to open 100 banking centers in "banking deserts," the $3 trillion JPMorgan Chase is arguably the nation's largest community bank. Other big banks should take notice and follow suit, and regulators should encourage them.