Unintended Consequences of Aggressive Regulation
“In case you’re looking for some light reading this weekend, FRB-Philadelphia working paper 21-08, Does CFPB Oversight Crimp Credit?” ~ Robert Morro (@bmorro44) So went a tweet from one […]
Fintech Buys Bank. Keeps Stratospheric Valuation.
Imagine a fintech, with off-the-chart valuations such as 2.6x book value and 51x EBITDA, buying a bank. For 1.85x book. In today’s M&A valuations, 1.85x is pretty lofty. Especially for […]
CFPB: Are They Coming to Get You?
A bank trade association CEO asked me a couple of questions while he was researching an op-ed piece. The edited Q&A is below. Q. Shouldn’t the CFPB work to address […]
Twitter Reacts to M&T / Peoples United Bank Deal
The headlines for subject deal, which dealmakers hope beyond all hope starts a robust bank M&A frenzy, were like the following: (you can click on articles and tweets to enlarge) […]
Is Your Contemplated Bank Merger Anti-Competitive
Yesterday at the ABA’s virtual Conference for Community Bankers (CCB), Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman gave a speech, My Perspective on Bank Regulation and Supervision. In that speech, she briefly commented […]
How Can Community Financial Institutions Improve? Project Management
In this video blog, I discuss my thoughts on community financial institutions upping their project management game. In summary: There are two types of projects: support function projects where you […]
The Death of The Community Bank
In June of 2008 I gave a speech titled “The Death of the Community Bank” and in that speech I made predictions. Recently I was cleaning out my files and […]
Banking’s Top 5 Total Return to Shareholders: 2020 Edition
For the past nine years I searched for the Top 5 financial institutions in five-year total return to shareholders because I support long-term strategic decision making that may not benefit […]
The Bank Branch Manager’s Wish List
Now is the time for wishes. And if I were a branch manager, given all of the demands on me, here is what I would wish for: 1. Clarity of […]
The Slippery Slope of Using Banks to Advance a Political Agenda
On October 29, 2020, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued a letter to all depositories and non-depositories regulated by them regarding climate change and financial risks. […]