Naomi Snyder
Editor-in-Chief
A Letter from the Editor
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Written by
Naomi Snyder
Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief Naomi Snyder is in charge of the editorial coverage at Bank Director. She oversees the magazine and the editorial team’s efforts on the Bank Director website, newsletter and special projects. She has more than two decades of experience in business journalism and spent 15 years as a newspaper reporter. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan.
WHAT WILL 2018 BRING?
What do you think will happen in 2018? Will interest rates continue to rise? Will Congress pass a regulatory relief bill for banks? Will there finally be a cure for chapped lips?
It’s normally a bad idea to make predictions of any kind. Oftentimes, your predictions are wrong. But it’s almost always fun.
My own predictions don’t push the edge of believability at all. I think we’ll continue to see more consolidation in the banking industry, particularly among small banks under $5 billion in assets.
The economy will continue to grow, interest rates will rise gradually, and the massive amount of fintech startups clamoring to get the attention of banks will begin to more rapidly consolidate or fail from lack of funding. Banks will get increasingly comfortable doing business with fintech companies, as there will be fewer of them, and their technology will have had a few seasons to be tested by other banks.
The new heads of regulatory agencies will begin making a mark on the banking regulatory system, and these are people who are known to be friendlier to banks, such as Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting, the former CEO of OneWest Bank. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Obama-era appointee, Richard Cordray, has departed the much maligned agency. Although they can’t change the Dodd-Frank Act, President Donald Trump’s appointees can make choices about examination and interpretation that make lives easier for the banks they regulate. In the cover story for this issue, you will read about how some banks are reacting to the prospect for regulatory change.
If legislation passes for banks, I don’t think it will be comprehensive. But it may grant some relief, for example, by increasing the thresholds above $50 billion in assets when banks start to see more regulation. But the wildcard is always the political realm. I wouldn’t have predicted that Trump would become the president of the United States, so what do I know?
What is your prediction?
Click here to give us your prediction and make yourself eligible to win a free conference pass in 2018. A winner will be chosen randomly in January from the responses we get from bankers.
WRITTEN BY
Naomi Snyder
Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief Naomi Snyder is in charge of the editorial coverage at Bank Director. She oversees the magazine and the editorial team’s efforts on the Bank Director website, newsletter and special projects. She has more than two decades of experience in business journalism and spent 15 years as a newspaper reporter. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan.
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