An Egghead's GSE
It wasn't pie-in-the-sky thinking that prompted the Nobel Prize-winning economist Edmund S. Phelps and the risk management adviser Leo M. Tilman to propose creating a First National Bank of Innovation. The Columbia University colleagues, who pitched the idea in the Harvard Business Review this week, see a real need for a game-changer to help the U.S. economy get back its edge.
Phelps and Tilman envision a government-sponsored enterprise that could raise cheap money and funnel it to innovative projects vetted by lending and investment officers from a network of banks. Think of it as a cross between the Farm Credit System and a venture capital firm, generating enough economic dynamism from areas such as clean energy and nanotechnology to propel the country.
Of course, the recent misadventures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have curbed the appetite for GSEs. But Phelps and Tilman told American Banker that the mortgage finance companies were not hobbled by their GSE status.
"A properly capitalized and risk-managed GSE — that makes economically driven decisions and is free of political pressures or patronage — should deserve serious consideration," they said.
Local Reinvestment
Timing is everything.
On Monday the North Carolina Bankers Association hosted Brian Moynihan's first public appearance as Bank of America Corp.'s CEO. The appearance garnered substantial media attention for the association's annual economic forecast forum.
"It was a delayed Christmas present," said Thad Woodard, the association's president. "This was the biggest coverage that we have ever received for an event."
Woodard said his group had lined up Ken Lewis months ago, only to have those plans erased with the former B of A chief's surprise retirement announcement Sept. 30. The NCBA quickly secured David Darnell, Bank of America's head of commercial lending, as the keynote while the company's board haggled over the naming of Lewis' successor.
Moynihan was appointed as Lewis' successor just three weeks ago, but he opted to fulfill his predecessor's obligation. "I'm sure we weren't the only ones pleased," Woodard said. "It also got David off the hook for preparing a speech."
Board Departures
Longtime Citigroup Inc. board member John Deutch will not stand for re-election to the board at Citi's coming annual meeting, the company said Thursday in a federal filing. …
The clock has run out on BB&T Corp.'s longest-serving director. BB&T said Tuesday that Tom Efird retired Dec. 31 after reaching the Winston-Salem, N.C., company's mandatory retirement age of 70. Efird joined BB&T's board in 1982, when BB&T had less than $4 billion of assets.
