Banking Resources – Search Results
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Why Small Banks Make More Small Business Loans
Although small and mid-sized banks control only 22 percent of all bank assets, they account for 54 percent of small business lending. Big banks, meanwhile, allocate relatively little of their resources to small businesses. The largest 20 banks, which now command 57 percent of all bank assets, devote only 18 percent of their commercial loan portfolios to small business. … Read More
Financial System Even More Vulnerable Now, Warns Inspector General
The latest report from TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky warns, “Even if TARP saved our financial system from driving off a cliff back in 2008, absent meaningful reform, we are still driving on the same winding mountain road, but this time in a faster car.”… Read More
Move Your Borrowing Along with Your Money
As we start down the path of breaking up with the big banks and defending our own economic interests and that of our communities, we should think about the whole range of financial services we use. We need to give thought to both the saving and lending sides of a bank. Each is crucial. On the savings side, community-based financial institutions need our deposits much more than the big banks do. But to be profitable community banks need to convert those deposits into loans. … Read More
Financial Crisis Commission Hearings Begin
Hearings held to investigate the crash of 1929 led to the passage of the Glass-Steagall Act, which fundamentally restructured the banking industry. Can the FCIC hearings, which get underway today, help to bring it back? … Read More
Soaring Credit Card Transaction Fees Squeeze Independent Businesses
Independent businesses are largely at the mercy of Visa and MasterCard when it comes to the fees they must pay every time they swipe a credit card. These fees, which are ultimately passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices, have soared from $27 billion in 2004 to $48 billion last year (or $427 per household). Recognizing the tremendous market power held by card processors, many countries now regulate credit card transaction fees, setting them at rates as low as one-sixth of what U.S. businesses pay. … Read More
Cal. City Uses Reserve Funds to Spur Local Business Development
In an effort to create more capital for local business loans and community development, the city of Santa Cruz, California, has shifted nearly $600,000 in city funds from U.S. treasuries and other securities to two locally owned financial institutions. Santa Cruz City Councilor Ryan Coonerty proposed the idea, which he says will bolster the local economy by keeping the city’s financial resources working locally. … Read More
Rogue Agencies Gut State Banking Laws
The only reason you’re not afraid of the Office of the Comptroller of Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision is because you don’t know what they do. Called indentured servants to the national banking industry, they are dismantling the state regulatory system piece by piece, with nothing more than a polite scolding from Congress. If … Read More
Restructuring the Financial System As If Community Matters
This speech by David Morris was originally presented at a conference entitled “Growing Equity: Assets and Opportunities for Communities Left Behind,” hosted by the Corporation for Enterprise Development in Washington, D.C., on December 4, 1997.… Read More