Industry News
The hunt for scale has long been one of the chief reasons for dealmaking, but Jimmy Dunne, senior managing principal of Sandler O'Neill, says that today's operating and regulatory environment shows the true need to find efficiency through size.
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The regulatory environment for small deals is improving as regulators see how consolidation can help move the industry further away from the crisis, says Jimmy Dunne, senior managing principal of Sandler O'Neill.
January 6 -
The number of mutuals is shrinking, but those committed to the charter still have options. Attorney Kip Weissman of Luse Gorman discusses the possibilities of charter conversions for those looking to throw in the towel and potential regulatory moves that could help the ailing charter class.
January 5
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On the West Coast, bankers are talking about starting new banks after a long period with scarcely any new charters, according to industry consultant and former California regulator Walter Mix. While in the aftermath of the crisis regulators seemed to have an unofficial moratorium on de novos, they now appear poised to evaluate applications on the merits, he says. Meanwhile, banks seeking approvals for mergers today can expect to be evaluated on a host of compliance matters, including unfair and deceptive acts and practices, Mix says.
August 5 -
Bud Foshee, the chief financial officer of ServisFirst in Birmingham, Ala., discusses the bank's recent IPO, its growth strategy and how it gets the best of larger banks.
June 30 -
BBVA's agreement to buy the online banking startup Simple will help improve its mobile banking and other technology, but the deal also highlights the stakes for other traditional banks as the industry tries to innovate. American Banker editors discuss which banks are the most forward-thinking and how other traditional financial companies can learn from startups and other disrupters.
February 27 -
Big banks survived the financial crisis, but their ability to attract top young talent may not. That's the argument of Kevin Roose, author of the book "Young Money," which chronicles three years in the lives of eight young, and increasingly disenchanted, investment bank employees. Roose discusses why some of the junior bankers he shadowed have left finance; what banks can -- and can't -- do to change their cultures; and how the industry's efforts to promote diversity are still falling short.
February 24 -
The biggest banks are coming off a year when their stocks and profits soared. Yet below the surface, they face a number of vexing problems: more regulation, less lucrative trading, an inability to do big deals and lower multiples than many smaller rivals. American Banker staffers discuss whether such factors may some day encourage shareholders to agitate for breakups.
February 19 -
Community bank ConnectOne is selling itself to Center Bancorp of New Jersey, in a $243 million deal that the companies are calling a merger of equals. ConnectOne Chief Executive Frank Sorrentino, who will run the combined bank as Chairman and CEO, tells American Banker about the reasoning behind the deal's unusual structure and discusses his plans for the merged company's expansion in New Jersey and the New York area.
January 21 -
The new year will bring an end to big regulatory settlements with banks, a sharp drop-off in the number of branches across the industry, increased use of biometric technology and a breakthrough in banks' use of big data. American Banker editors discuss these and other predictions for the year ahead in banking.
January 8
