I love to use the term "endgame," because as a company we like to work backwards from where the market is going, as opposed to working forward from where we are. Endgame is a very provocative concept to confront our associates with to create a sense of urgency to change. Otherwise, companies can get pretty complacent.
Local and regional banks are very focused on consolidation and building across states to build bigger institutions. They are definitely addressing local scale, which is very important, but are not addressing the nationalization of some parts of banking. They are still selling these products, but I think from a structurally disadvantaged platform.
Three of our competitors are in the top 15 in the whole doggone world. It is extraordinary to behold the magnitude of some of these players. If I hadn't spent 16 years always dwarfed by the big players, I would be particularly awed by what we're up against.
I don't believe that there is a tremendous amount of synergy for banks to have investment banking and commercial and consumer banking in the same company. In fact, I think the complexity of managing it is tremendous. Many banks are there because they have always been there.
Richard Fairbank
Chairman and CEO of Capital One
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