By Bill Poquette, Editor-in-Chief
Tom Jensen is senior vice president, ag lending at First National Bank of Omaha, which is ranked as the 10th-largest U.S. ag lender with markets in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Texas. In mid-September, Ag Banking Editor-in-Chief Bill Poquette visited with him about the beef segment of the agricultural economy. The following is based on that conversation, edited for length and clarity. He is a board member of CattleFax and relied on research from their information and analysis service for his comments.
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By Bill Poquette, Editor-in-Chief
Three big challenges facing community bankers were addressed at the opening session of the recent Missouri Independent Bankers Association convention: investment strategies for a flattening yield curve, the competitive threat of global fintech giants, and regulatory pressures.
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By Bill Poquette, Editor-in-Chief
Just over six months ago, the banking industry was thrilled to welcome final passage of S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act. Finally, the decade-old Dodd-Frank curse was eased. Constant pressure from financial institution trade groups and their members led to rare bipartisan agreement on a package of relief measures holding great promise for the industry — especially community and regional banks — and the communities it serves.
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Lehman bankruptcy anniversary summons too-big-to-fail memories.
By Bill Poquette, Editor-in-Chief
Sept. 15, 2018, marked the 10th anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest and venerated U.S. investment bank that Fortune magazine had labeled a year earlier the No. 1 “most admired securities firm.” A primary cause for the debacle, which was to become a stark symbol of the financial crisis, was imprudent lending amidst the housing bubble.
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Or are they the proverbial solution looking for a problem?
By Bill Poquette, Editor-in-Chief
Last August in this space, I wrote about a speech by Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika in mid-July strongly defending the agency’s proposal for special-purpose national charters for fintech companies offering banking or bank-like services. This was a few weeks after the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the New York Department of Financial services filed lawsuits — which were subsequently dismissed as premature — charging the OCC lacked legal grounds for such charters.
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