The United States is no stranger to the fury of hurricanes. These massive, destructive storms can wreak havoc on communities, businesses, and infrastructure. As we look ahead to the 2023 hurricane season, the National Oceanic...

As global greenhouse gas emissions soar to unprecedented levels and the world grapples with the urgent need to address smoking skies, the implications for financial institutions, including community banks, cannot be ignored....

Safety and soundness exams are the toughest they have been in years

It has been over four months since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. It seemed obvious at the time that regulators were going to change their posture towards...

Every bank needs to reassess to their strategic and capital plans because of this past week’s events. Optimizing self-sustaining liquidity levels and real capital levels should be the highest priority right now.  

A key recession indicator is now at its highest point in 42 years.

Regulators are more concerned about capital in the banking industry than at any point since the 2008 Financial Crisis. This includes the 2020 Pandemic which saw regulators go out of their way to help banks handwave away concerns...

No matter the regulator, community banks with concentration issues should expect extra scrutiny at their next exam. Banks without proper concentration risk management processes are in danger of CAMELS downgrades, enforcement...

Reporting on and understanding wildfire risks

If you work for a bank that has a CRE or construction concentration, you most likely know that regulators have you in their cross hairs. I’ve seen several instances over the last few weeks in which examiners have notified banks...