The Week's Best Quotes: Banks as Cops, Shunning the Walmart Label

March 26, 2013 8:41 AM

The most notable quotes from American Banker stories of the previous week. Readers are encouraged to add their own observations in the Comments fields at the bottom of each slide.

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On what the consulting firm Promontory Financial Group does:

"We don't lobby - it's not our business. We do the opposite of influencing government. We try to influence the private sector on what the government wants it to do."

- Eugene Ludwig, Promontory founder and chief executive

On the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's warning that lenders could be held liable for partner auto dealers' fair-lending violations:

"The CFPB has no authority over auto dealers, so now we're being put in the difficult position of essentially policing the auto dealers."

- Fred Becker, president and chief executive of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions

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On CFPB director Richard Cordray's warning that the agency may begin to scrutinize banks' relationships with third-parties, like debt collectors and mortgage servicers:

"I don't think very many banks have asked themselves, 'Are we in business relationships that could create risks to consumers?'"

- Jo Ann Barefoot, co-chair of Treliant Risk Advisors

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On a recent New York state settlement that bars force-placed mortgage insurer Assurant (AIZ) from paying banks for their business:

"Assurant … did a great job of making it easy for the servicers to make money on this. That gravy train is gone."

- Marc Tanowitz, a consultant for Pace Harmon

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On why John Koelmel lost his job as chief executive at First Niagara Financial Group (FNFG):

"The company under Koelmel pursued growth for the sake of growth and this was not always consistent with shareholder value creation."

- Josh Levin, Citigroup banking analyst

On why First Niagara has agreed to pay interim CEO Gary Crosby $1 million when it names a permanent CEO:

"The only explanation is that they fear losing him."

- Rod Taylor, CEO of executive-recruitment firm Taylor & Co.

On a shift in bank M&A buying patterns:

"We are transitioning out of a period where buyers were buying on the cheap, and moving more toward buyers looking at things that will enhance earnings over the long term."

- Tim Coffey, analyst at FIG Partners

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On a merger offer worth two times tangible book value that Umberto Fedeli's bank received in 2007:

"It was a very different time. It feels like a million years ago."

- Umberto Fedeli, the largest shareholder in PVF Capital in Solon, Ohio

On Heritage Financial Corp.'s (HFWA) decision to raise capital for M&A in a slow market for deals:

"In retrospect we probably raised too much."

- Brian Vance, CEO of Heritage Financial in Olympia, Wash.

On business bank Bridge Capital Holdings' (BBNK) refusal to slash interest rates to attract clients:

"We're not the Walmart of banking."

- Dan Myers, CEO of Bridge Capital Holdings

On how banks that rely heavily on refinancing will fare once the current boom ends:

"They are going to find themselves out of business unless they come up with other income streams. They will not be able to keep their doors open when interest rates rise."

- Daniel Jacobs, president of retail branching at Residential Finance Corp. in Columbus, Ohio

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On the limited control he had over his loan book when he worked for Regions Financial (RF):

"We really had no ownership if the credit went bad, or if the client went bad."

- Bob Johnson, a commercial lender at CapitalMark Bank & Trust in Chattanooga, Tenn.

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On the increasing frequency of cyberattacks directed against banks and other businesses:

"It's a very strange period of time, in that we really have normalized major industrial-sector attacks. It's the new normal."

- Carl Herberger, vice president of security solutions at digital-security firm Radware

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