Community banking
Some areas of the country are enjoying hot bank-deal markets while others are stone cold-including some over-banked ones. Robert Barba, American Banker's Chicago-based M&A reporter, explains what's behind the numbers.
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Five years after the financial crisis, the new regulatory regime remains a work in progress but one that's created a major burden for the industry. Here are some of the main takeaways from banking leaders and policymakers who gathered this week to discuss the state of affairs at American Banker's Regulatory Symposium in Washington, D.C.
September 25 -
The year's Most Powerful Women in Banking special report contains good news and bad. On the positive side, women are making progress in the upper reaches of banking and finance. The trouble is that they still have a long way to go before achieving gender equality. The reasons are complex.
September 18
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Financial institutions are required to thoroughly "know" their customers and vet transactions for potential criminal connections in a way that other critical service industries are not. (Imagine an electric company quizzing its customers about what appliances they plug into the wall.) Ellen Zimiles, a former assistant U.S. attorney who now heads the global investigations and compliance practice at Navigant Consulting, explains why banks have been given special responsibilities.
September 11 -
Remittances from the West are a lifeline for many people in the developing world, but anti-money laundering compliance requirements have made it hard for banks and money transmitters to service this market. Ellen Zimiles of Navigant Consulting discusses the delicate balance between regulatory and law enforcement concerns, on the one hand, and business and humanitarian goals on the other.
September 10 -
Deposit balances have declined for two consecutive quarters, threatening a low-cost source of funding for many institutions. American Banker editors discuss the implications and how bankers are responding.
September 6 -
John Stumpf, chairman and chief executive of Wells Fargo, wrote an impassioned column for American Banker last week emphasizing the importance of community banks to the national economy and calling for Washington to unburden them from a stifling regulatory regime. Editors discuss why big banks have so much riding on the survival of their smaller rivals.
September 4 -
"Insane" is how one bank CEO characterized what he's seen recently in the competition among banks to win business by loosening loan terms. American Banker editors discuss the trend and the dangers it poses.
August 29 -
Jim Simpson, CTO of City Bank Texas, explains how and why his community bank has been the first U.S. bank to go live with several new mobile banking tools.
August 29 -
A New Jersey credit union has agreed to accept accounts transferred from a trading exchange that handles Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. The move, apparently aimed at attracting business from investors and financial institutions that trade in the alternative forms of tender, could provide them with a much needed level of legitimacy. Staff reporters discuss.
August 27
