Like Ducklings Furiously Paddling, Small and Medium Sized Banks Are Now Looking for Mom
Just a smidge of history to set this up
In the late 40s and early 50s, my Dad knew the President of the First National Bank and Trust Company of Evanston. Matter of fact, he landscaped his home, several blocks from where we lived. They operated on a first-name basis, banker and customer who often shared a pipe in the office and knew each other’s needs.
Banking was a dull business in those days, holding deposits and making loans. The President drove a Buick, probably earned $10-15,000 a year and was a respected member of the community. He knew his customers and they knew him.
These days, long after de-regulation, there are 4,844 insured commercial banks across America
But today only eight banks are considered too big to fail and the pressure is on, with the recent failures of First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank. They were all pretty large banks and were subsequently bought out rather than allowed to fail. So you can see the pressure for thousands of lesser banks to…