Zions Bancorp. appears to have found a novel approach to escape the added requirements for banks above the Dodd-Frank Act's systemic $50 billion asset threshold, but other banks in a similar position are more likely to wait for Congress to address the issue rather than following suit.
Freeing a number of big banks from enhanced oversight, including capital requirements, could motivate CEOs to pursue deals. Still, other impediments could prevent a flood of large mergers.
The regulatory relief bill would raise the SIFI threshold to $250 billion of assets and allow mortgages held in portfolio to be counted as "qualified," among other items, but it is far less sweeping than institutions had hoped.
Pat Hickman, CEO of Happy State Bank, wants his institution to remain viable in the face of stifling regulation. As for selling? That'll happen over his dead body, he says.
The authority of the Financial Stability Oversight Council to label a firm a “systemically important financial institution” triggers duplicative regulation even if bank-like rules are not appropriate to the company.
New York Fed chief cautions against taking “meat cleaver” to Dodd-Frank; Stephanie Cohen, one of the highest-ranking women at the bank, will try finding new sources of revenue.
Bankers are generally happy with the House Republican tax plan released last week, but one provision of the proposed overhaul is likely to give them pause: a cutback in the deduction for deposit insurance premiums.
Discussions on a regulatory relief package between the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Banking Committee broke down late Tuesday, but members from both parties remain hopeful they can reach a bipartisan deal.
The Senate's repeal of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule is arguably the industry's biggest policy victory since passage of Dodd-Frank. But is it the sign of a trend?
