Zions Bancorp

The Financial Stability Oversight Council will hold an executive session next week to consider whether Zions Bancorp. should still be considered a systemically important financial institution.

The interagency will establish a venue for bank holding companies that restructure to argue in favor of their being dedesignated as "systemically important," similar to the process afforded other firms.

Dueling blockchain stories — one arguing it was virtually useless, the other saying it could change real estate lending — seized the top spots this week, while readers also focused on tax reform aftermath and a key Senate retirement.

The banks announced bonuses, wage hikes and charitable contributions resulting from the lower corporate tax rate enacted by Congress.

The holding company structure makes sense for large banks with complex business models and small banks looking to bulk up through acquisitions. But for a large swath of banks in the middle, the benefits are harder to spot.

The Dodd-Frank Act included a provision to lock some of the biggest firms into enhanced supervision even if they wanted to exit. But that grasp may not be as strong as it used to be.

On his last day at the agency, Keith Noreika called for scaling back the Bank Holding Company Act, arguing that it burdens banks with duplicative regulation and restricts their economic potential.

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Zions Bancorp. appears to have found a novel approach to escape the added requirements for banks above the Dodd-Frank Act's systemic $50 billion asset threshold, but other banks in a similar position are more likely to wait for Congress to address the issue rather than following suit.

The $65 billion-asset company intends to shed its holding company and then will petition regulators to reconsider its designation as a systemically important financial institution.