The Banker Next Door

Bank Director issued their Ranking Banking survey results for 2026. Finishing first in the top 25 banks category was Commerce Bancshares. For the $50 billion and above category Columbia Banking System finished first. For the $5 billion up to $50 billion category Commerce Bancshares finished first. For the less than $5 billion category Northeast Community Bancorp finished first. Outside of the categories, the report provides some interesting details on the banks. What are some of the metrics that separate the top ranked banks from the average banks in the Ranking Banking survey? Where is the cost of deposits currently at and how has the cost adjusted over the last 18 years? What regions dominate the Ranking Banking survey? This episode reviewed Bank Director’s Ranking Banking: The Best U.S. Banks 2026. A link to the report is included below.
Link: RankingBanking's Best Banks: Back to the Basics | Bank Director

The FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile shows the performance of the bank industry but also breaks down the performance of community banks for the quarter and the performance of the Deposit Insurance Fund or DIF. The banking had the following results for the second quarter: Net income rose, net interest margin increased, net operating revenue increased, noninterest expense increased, provision expense declined, asset quality metrics improved, unrealized losses on securities increased and remain an issue for the industry, industry assets increased, loan growth was broad-based, domestic deposits increased for the eight consecutive quarter, capital ratios declined, but are still strong, the number of problem banks decreased, and four banks opened in the 2nd quarter. The number of FDIC insured institutions decreased to 4,238. Community bank performance was equally strong. DIF increased by $3.7 billion to $161.1 billion. DIF reserve ratio increased to 1.48%. One institution failed in the 2nd quarter. This episode reviewed the FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile for the 2nd quarter of 2026. Links to the report and charts are included below.  
Link: FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile - Second Quarter 2026
Link: FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile Second Quarter 2026 | FDIC.gov

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on August 22, 2026. Stephen Miran and Nouriel Roubini wrote a research paper for Hudson Bay Capital titled “ATI: Activist Treasury Issuance and the Tug-of-War over monetary policy.” This research paper was originally published in July 2024. ATI, in a sense, was the Treasury Departments version of Quantitative Easing. ATI became a tool in the Treasury’s toolbox. Given what Scott Bessent is looking to do in the bond market, I thought this was a good time to go back and review ATI. A link to the research paper is included below.
Link:69e6aab714fc6f94b589fcc0_635102_ATI_-_Activist_Treasury_Issuance_and_the_Tug-of-War_over_Monetary_Policy.pdf

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

Bank News: Brazil’s Itau Unibanco Holding gets OCC conditional approval for a U.S. bank charter. Old Glory Bank is forced to scrap merger with SPAC. Flagstar Banks goes with Fiserv ‘s Finxact on new cloud-native core system. The SEC charged an ex-Bank of America Banker with insider trading. SouthPoint Bancshares is in trouble with the Federal Reserve and Alabama State Banking Department. CFTC bans ex-FTX execs Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang from trading for only five years. Democrats introduce anti-corruption bill because Trump backed World Liberty received a conditional bank charter. The OCC’s Jonathan Gould had some interesting comments at a blockchain symposium. SEC proposes crypto rules because The Clarity Act is stalled in the Senate. Bankers are seeking a clearer definition of ‘material financial risk’ in proposed CAMELS changes. This episode reviewed multiple articles from Banking Dive.

Mark Walter’s, CEO of Guggenheim Partners (big wall street player) and owner of the Dodgers and Lakers, received what amounted to a $20 billion-dollar regulatory margin call. This forced him to sell the Lakers very quickly and scramble for additional funds. This event shined a light on the ties between Private Equity, Private Credit, and Life Insurance companies, which led to major concern among state insurance regulators and federal regulatory authorities. Mr. Walter’s insurers apparently lent more than $20 billion of policyholder money to his own private entities without properly disclosing the affiliations. The problem here is that this is not a one-off or isolated incident. It is a peak behind the curtain into a much larger game on wall street that has been going on for a while now flying under the radar. The question is will the regulators be able to clean this up before another major blow up occurs. This episode reviewed a Substack article from Edward Dowd (subscription required) titled “Mark Walter’s $20 billion regulatory margin call: How Guggenheim’s insurance arm funded his empire.” You can follow Edward Dowd on X @DowdEdward.

Tioga-Franklin Savings Bank in Philadelphia becomes the fifth bank failure of 2026. The bank had $68 million in assets as of June 30th. The FDIC estimates that the failure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund approximately $5.5 million. Second Federal Savings and Loan Association assumed all the single branch bank’s deposits and most of its assets. The FDIC acted as receiver. Tioga-Franklin Savings was founded in 1873 and was one of about 22 black-owned banks in the U.S. The bank was plagued by deficiencies that were identified starting back in 2023. Despite being under a regulatory consent order since 2024, the bank was not able to adequately address its issues. This episode reviewed an article from Banking Dive titled “Philly lender becomes fifth bank to fail in 2026.” A link to the article is included below.
Link: Philly lender becomes fifth bank to fail in 2026 | Banking Dive

Why would someone want to start a De Novo bank? If you wanted to, how would you go about it? What is the process? This episode tries to answer these questions. First, if you want to start a De Novo bank focus on the “why.” What is a compelling customer problem and how will you solve it? What is your niche? Why would a customer switch to your bank? A good example is Bird-in-Hand Bank in Lancaster, PA. This bank was built to specifically serve the Amish community. Another consideration is local community relationship banking versus national product-centric fintech platform. Let the “why” drive everything. Second, If you want to start a De Novo bank you should follow these 7 steps. 1) Team and Governance, 2) Seed money, 3) Choose the niche, 4) Three-year business plan, 5) Choose charter type and file, 6) Raise capital, and 7) Build infrastructure and tech. This episode reviewed two blog posts from PCBB titled “De Novo Formation Part 1: Start with the Why” and “De Novo Formation Part 2: Executing the how.” Links to both blog posts are included below.
Link: De Novo Formation - Part 1: Start with the Why
Link: De Novo Formation – Part 2: Executing the How

The FDIC announced a new deposit insurance application process. This will be a two-phase process used to evaluate new applications to speed up the review process. The FDIC will provide de novo applications who satisfy requirements with a contingent authorization within 120 days of receiving the application. The idea is to make the process more efficient by getting a green light before organizers spend significant capital and time to form a new bank. Additionally, the OCC said it will continue to encourage the formation of new banks and strengthen the resilience of the federal banking system. This episode reviewed press releases from the FDIC and OCC and an article from Banking Dive titled “FDIC tweaks de novo application process.” Links to the FDIC and OCC press releases are included below.  
Link: OCC prioritizes de novo banks - ICBA Payments
Link: FDIC tweaks de novo application process | Banking Dive

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.