The Arkansas company has spent two years trying to reassure nervous investors and analysts that it can rapidly book real estate loans using conservative practices.
In some ways the Canadian bank's U.S. consumer business is only now shaking off many of its crisis-era problems here. CEO Darryl White is pinning his retail-comeback hopes on a rejuvenated sales culture and a focus on more profitable customers.
Changing political and economic forces are raising new questions about deployment of tax savings and the cost of deposits, while old concerns about cost-cutting, credit quality and risk taking persist or return.
The bank has taken a decisive step to protect its asset quality, but the move also raises questions about what will drive loan growth in the future — and whether the company is on the block.
