The Banker Next Door

Episode 265: Lesson time: Let's see how quickly a good loan can go bad!

This episode examines a recent article from The Business Journals titled “Wells Fargo’s former Market Street office building is crippled. Can it survive and adapt?” This article poses a great example of how quickly good loans can go bad. If you are a lender or work in the credit or risk departments of a bank, it is critical to understand that your loans may not be as strong as you think. A link to the article is included below.  
Link: Wells Fargo's departure cripples 401 Market St. - Philadelphia Business Journal

Episode 264: What is going on with colleges?

This episode examines several recent articles from The Business Journals and The Wall Street Journal on what is happening with colleges in the U.S. Colleges are seeing a decline in enrollment that could threaten their business model. However, colleges in the southeastern part of the U.S. are seeing a surge in enrollment, especially from students coming from the northeastern part of the country. With colleges becoming increasingly politicized, the amount of student loan debt outstanding, and many young people questioning the value of a college degree, how long can this go on before colleges have to make some big changes? Links to the articles are included below.  
Link: Colleges, universities close across the county as enrollment drops - The Business Journals
Link: Sorry, Harvard. Everyone Wants to Go to College in the South Now. - WSJ

BND: Strategy Room 11-8-2024

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.

Episode 263: What is Extend-and-Pretend?

This episode examines a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York titled “Extend-and-Pretend in the U.S. CRE Market.” This report was published in October 2024. The report shows that banks “extended-and-pretended” CRE mortgages in the post-pandemic period to avoid write offs against their capital and this led to credit misallocation and a buildup of financial fragility. A link to the report is included below.
Link: Extend-and-Pretend in the U.S. CRE Market - FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK

Episode 262: The fintech-bank partnership is on the rocks! What can banks do?

This episode examines three recent articles from Bank Director covering different aspects of the bank-fintech relationship. What should banks be concerned about with a fintech partnership? How can a bank dissolve a problematic partnership? Finally, how can banks get these relationships right? With the bank-fintech relationship under intense regulatory scrutiny and perhaps the future of banking hanging in the balance, this is a critical topic for the banking industry. Links to all three articles are provided below.
Link: Digital Transformation Challenge for Smaller Banks: Getting Fintech Partnerships Right | Bank Director
Link: A Cautionary Tale for Bank-Fintech Partnerships     | Bank Director
Link: Dismantling Problematic Partnerships  | Bank Director

Episode 261: How is CSBS feeling about the banking industry?

This episode examines the annual 2024 Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) Survey of Community Banks. The survey highlights the views of 367 banks across 38 states. The banks included in the survey are all under $10 billion in asset size. Some of the topics covered include cybersecurity, regulatory burden, high technology costs, and the cost of funds. A link to the report is included below.
Link: CSBS Survey Highlights Top Risks and Challenges
Link: FINAL2024CSBSSurvey.pdf

Episode 260: How worried are banks about interest rate risk?

This episode examines the OCC’s semiannual Interest Rate Risk Statistics Report for fall 2024. Interest rate risk is one of the largest risks that banks of all sizes face. Fluctuation in interest rates can have massive implications for bank balance sheets and future earnings. This report includes a review of bank reported IRR data that includes exposures, risk limits, and non-maturity deposit assumptions. The data is also broken down based on bank asset sizes. A link to the report is included below.
Link: Interest Rate Risk Statistics Report | OCC

Episode 259: Will real-time payments lead to faster fraud?

This episode examines a recent article from ICBA titled “Can Faster Payments Lead to Faster Fraud?” As real-time payments are implemented, one of the side effects is that fraud can also be perpetrated faster. What can community banks do to combat this issue? A link to the article is included below.   
Link: Can Faster Payments Lead to Faster Fraud?

BND: Strategy Rooom - Crypto Series Special

This is a special Strategy Room episode as part of the ongoing Crypto Series. This special will cover various aspects of the crypto debate. We will look at an article from ICBA, several reports from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) and Financial Stability Board (FSB), and PEW research. Topics include what is the impact of tokenization, cross-boarder crypto regulatory and supervisor challenges, are stablecoins safe havens during crypto market stress, what kind of regulation should be around stablecoins, current crypto scams, and ultimately what do American’s think about crypto?

BND: Strategy Room 11-1-2024

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.