It’s a big deal when any small business lands a big customer. Business owners dream of landing a Fortune 500 customer that will assure sales and boost profits. But of course, that’s not the end of the challenge. No small business owner wants to become dependent upon one big customer, so the ultimate goal is to land several big customers. [Continue]
An entrepreneur is someone who surveys the landscape, looks for things that could be improved, and acts toward that improvement. Entrepreneurship, at its essence, is problem-solving. Sometimes an entrepreneur will start a company to solve that problem, and if the company is successful, that entrepreneur becomes famous. [Continue]
Piper Jaffray Companies of Minneapolis is acquiring Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P. of New York in a deal expected to close in January 2020. A definitive agreement for the transaction was announced on July 9. [Continue]
This merger is a significant development for the two companies, but more importantly, for you, the community banker who turns to us for industry news, information and analysis. Like BankBeat, BankNews magazine has a history that goes back more than a century. [Continue]
People have long talked about the demise of banking. And in the last decade, talk has ramped up on the decline of print media. Of course these industries are changing, and it is likely these industries will move to a fewer number of larger players. But these industries are not going away. In the right niches, banks and newspapers remain important providers of essential services. [Continue]
FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams stressed the importance of reg relief for community banks, saying she doesn’t think Basel should apply to them. [Continue]
Banks and technology companies can form great partnerships, but policymakers should watch how these two industries interact, and intervene if equal access to credit or financial stability is threatened. The country has long benefited from laws that separate commerce from banking; this separation may be more important than ever as the world grows more technologically capable. [Continue]
Liquidity, particularly in banks dependent upon ag loans, and security issues top the list of concerns among regulators who spoke at a recent event hosted by the Bank Holding Company Association in Kansas City, Mo. [Continue]
The banking industry’s financial performance is generally strengthening at a time when regulatory demands seem to be lightening [Continue]
Bankers often think of strategic planning in the fall, sometimes in conjunction with the annual budgeting process, but I want to encourage you to think about strategic planning now. If you want to conduct strategic planning successfully this fall, you really need to begin preparing now. [Continue]