Best Banking Reads of 2014

What a year it’s been for the banking industry! From threats from outside the industry by Apple and Wal-Mart, to questions on whether Colorado and Washington banks should work with legal marijuana businesses, to regulatory shenanigans at the New York Fed, 2014 has been memorable. As the holidays approach and I think back on the year that was, I thought I’d take a few minutes to share some of the banking-related stories I enjoyed in 2014.

Regulations

• Banks given the go-ahead on working with marijuana businesses: Marijuana may be legal in some states, but that doesn’t mean banks are ready to work with marijuana businesses.
• How to Punish a Bank: This is from National Public Radio’s Planet Money, so it’s more of a listen than a read, but delves into the problems of effectively punishing the big banks.
• Bank of America Adds a Mortgage Settlement to Its Collection: Bloomberg’s Matt Levine (also cited in the NPR segment) provides the data on (at the time) Bank of America’s $68 billion in mortgage settlements, and asks how effective these penalties and fines are when they become business-as-usual.
• Inside the Emerald City: Jack Milligan, editor of Bank Director, delved into the culture of the NY Fed following concerns that regulators got just a bit too cozy with the big banks they oversee.

NonBank Competition

• Sizing Up the NonBank Threat: Jack Milligan’s cover story in the 4th quarter 2014 issue of Bank Director magazine was a great way to close out a year that saw a lot of focus on the impact that nonbank competitors, from Wal-Mart to Apple, had on traditional banks.
• Are Wal-Mart and Apple poised to be regulated by the CFPB?: This Washington Post article feels particularly prescient, following news of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s lawsuit against Sprint.
• For Banks, the Sky is Falling: Al Dominick’s blog, AboutThatRatio.com, explored the nonbank threat in a five-part series that examined Facebook, PayPal, Wal-Mart and crowdfunding.
• Wal-Mart’s Getting into Banking, and It Makes a Lot of Sense: FiveThirtyEight delves into data on the unbanked to explain Wal-Mart’s expansion of its financial products.

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Who would you add to this list of the top community bank CEOs?

About That Ratio

We are getting close to that time of year when people start writing their top ten lists, providing year-in-review posts and taking out the proverbial crystal ball.  In this spirit, my post-Thanksgiving piece provides a list of bank CEOs I met this year that impressed me with both their bank’s performance & personal leadership styles.  From the outside looking in, I have to assume shareholders and employees alike appreciate what each has done for their organization.

Look at this leadership

A few days ago, David Reilly authored a piece in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Wanted: Dance Partners for Bank Merger Ball” (sorry, registration required).  Citing Bank Director’s annual M&A research report, he reminded us that it takes two to tango — and “that is still the issue for investors expecting, or hoping for, a significant pickup in bank merger activity in 2015.”  As we showed in our survey of about 200 bank directors and executives…

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About That Ratio

Jim Collins once wrote “good is the enemy of great,” opining that the vast majority of companies “never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good – and that is their main problem.”  I have heard many use the title of today’s piece to explain the unexpected; most recently, while talking with a friend about Jurgen Klinsmann’s decision to exclude Landon Donovan from his 23-man World Cup roster (hence today’s picture c/o USA Today).  While I’ll steer clear of any soccer talk until the U.S. takes the field against Ghana in a few weeks, Collins’ statement sparked the three thoughts I share today. Indeed, being “just good” will not cut it in our highly competitive financial industry.

Let’s Be Real — Times Remain Tough

In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Robin Sidel and Andrew Johnson began their “Big Profit Engines for Banks Falter” with a simple truth: “it is becoming tougher and tougher being…

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FI Tip Sheet: Some of Banking’s Best Female CEOs

Al’s list of some of the best female CEOs in banking includes community banks too.

About That Ratio

According to a recent report by Catalyst, 46.9% of the U.S. labor force is female; but only 16.9% of Fortune 500 corporate board seats are held by women and 4.6% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. This got me thinking about the financial sector and why there are so few… along with wondering who are some of the best. Yes, the number of women serving as chief executives is spectacularly small, and the same is true in the banking industry.  Nonetheless, there are a number that standout and what follows in today’s tip sheet are some of them.

Two CEOs at “Big Brands”
Last month, I wrote how the names and logos of institutions over $50Bn — think M&T with some $83Bn in assets, PNC with $305Bn and US Bancorp with $353Bn – are familiar to most. Leading these massive organizations are some tremendously talented individuals; to today’s focus,

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