Robert Wilmers joined M&T in 1983 when it had just $2 billion of assets and built into a regional powerhouse with $120 billion of assets and operations in a dozen states.
For the second week in a row, the CFPB's leadership shakeout dominated readers' attention, while a regional banker discussed efforts to fight hacking and the impact of the tax cuts, and bitcoin's price soared.
Strong gains in net interest income offset a decline in fee income, but a recent settlement with the federal government over alleged misconduct at its Wilmington Trust unit weighed on the Buffalo company's overall results.
The Buffalo, N.Y., bank has been freed from an enforcement order that required an upgrade of its anti-money-laundering compliance systems. The Fed had ordered the upgrade as a condition for approval of its acquisition of Hudson City Bancorp.
Monetary policy was intended to act as an accelerant for an economy in recession, and did in fact accomplish that goal early on; however, its benefits have waned, if not reversed, over time.
