Comments of the Year
December 27, 2013 5:59 PM
We revisit some of the best comments readers posted to AmericanBanker.com and BankThink.com in 2013.
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On the Dodd-Frank Act:
"It should have been named the 'We'll Torture Bankers and Take Their Money Whenever We Please Act.'"
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On Sen. Elizabeth Warren grilling regulators over a lack of banker prosecutions:
"It appears that an increasing number of people
are more interested in vengeance than rule of law."
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Image: Bloomberg News
On making tough decisions about bank branches:
"Opening branches is fun and easy. Everyone loves ribbon cuttings and promises of growth. Closing branches and dealing with the impact on customers and employees is hard - and necessary."
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On the possibility regulators will ape the CFPB and make public complaints about small banks:
"How helpful will it be to see the following (typical) complaints lodged against small banks?
The new accounts person did not offer fresh coffee. The carpet in the lobby is ugly. The bank should have known the check they were depositing would bounce. The bank is not open on Saturdays. Ten pages of incoherent rambling that references things like 'free citizen of the republic'
I could go on."
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On whether the chairman and CEO role at banks should be split:
"The single biggest failing of CEOs in general is that they can start to think they are infallible. Arrogance will bring down a CEO faster than anything else, and having an outside chair can help the CEO from falling into that trap."
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On bankers needing to lower their M&A price expectations:
"Banks are sold, they are not bought. Until executives face the reality
that banking is no longer 'fun', you will not see a pickup in M&A. Every bank thinks they're [worth] 2.0x-2.5x book [value]. Most are really not."
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On regulators potentially using 'reputation risk' as a catch-all to challenge disfavored banking businesses:
"'When you fly with the crows, you get shot with the crows' may be what the regulators are saying."
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Image: Jonathan Waller
On why small banks find it difficult to cut operating costs:
"The challenge is that many organizations of all sizes are still run by management that learned banking in the 60s and 70s, when rates were high, spreads were generous and face-to-face interactions were the only way to sell. It's time to smell the roses and realize the industry (and the customers) have changed."
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On the slew of regulatory actions against JPMorgan Chase:
"All I can say as a community banker is welcome to our world, Jamie!"
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Image: Bloomberg News
On New York regulators' crackdown on online lenders with tribal ties:
"New York's banking regulators must be suffering from some strange ocular defect: They can't see the 'too big to fail' operations on Wall Street, but claim to have a bead on the actions of tribes located thousands of miles away."
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On big banks thwarting a proposal to update the U.S. payments system:
"[Banks] can bounce a check on consumers in an afternoon but direct deposit takes two days. They don't want to make your money available to you faster."
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On the complexity of the final Volcker Rule:
"Eight hundred and eighty one pages to say 'no short term trading for speculative profit (as distinct from investing to earn income from liquid assets) and no investing in hedge and VC funds.' Eighty-one pages to say that would be bizarre. Eight pages would be more than is needed.
If this trend continues we should expect to see a 1,000 page regulation on bathroom breaks coming soon."
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