Bank Insights

Our newsletter with guidance on bank trends and regulatory thinking.

Bank Insights June 2020

  • COVID-19 Stress Testing: An Essential Tool to Guide Banks through the Crisis and Beyond
  • CEOs Need to Start Prepping for the Worst-Case Scenario
  • How One Bank Uses Invictus Stress Tests
  • COVID-19 and Your ALLL: Now What?
  • Bankers Should Focus on Five Loan Characteristics to Assess Risk from COVID-19 Economy
  • Why Banks Need to Get Ahead of the COVID-19 Economy
  • When the Hypothetical is Now: The Importance of Pandemic Stress Testing
  • Frequently Asked Questions about Invictus COVID-19 Stress Testing
  • The Shortfalls of Loan-Level CRE Stress Testing in a COVID-19 World
View Issue

Bank Insights January 2020

  • Special Report:
    Community Bank Leverage Ratio Handbook
View Issue

Bank Insights September 2019

  • Mergers of Equals: Rare Deals Could Help Community Banks Solve Problems
    • Three Banks into One
    • MOE Tips from CEOs: Culture, Excitement and Details Matter to Get the Deal Done
  • Unconventional M&A: What Makes MOEs Unique—and How to Avoid Their Pitfalls
  • M&A Red Flag — Beware of Dependence on Auctions
  • Read Between the Lines September 2019
View Issue

Bank Insights May 2019

  • Unconventional M&A — Why it Makes Sense to Do a Deal Amid Depressed Bank Stock Prices
  • Deposit Dilemma — A Playbook for Using M&A as a Proactive Tool to Solve Funding Issues
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights January/February 2019

  • Rising Rates — The Calm Before the Storm
  • Capital Planning — Why Opting into the Community Bank Leverage Ratio Shouldn’t be Automatic
  • View from an Expert
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights August/September 2018

  • Deposit Dilemma – Using an Unconventional M&A Strategy to Boost Deposits
  • QE Reversal – Danger Ahead: How Unwinding QE Could Exacerbate Community Bank Deposit Issue
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights June/July 2018

  • EXAM TRENDS: Concentration Risk Management an Exam Focus
  • CECL ISSUES: Unpacking the CECL Data Challenge
  • How the New CRE Focus Emerged
  • National Map of CRE Thresholds
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights April/May 2018

  • CECL Trends: The Biggest CECL Mistake Most Banks will Make — and How to Avoid It
  • Regulations: Disruptive Thinking: Is the Community Bank Leverage Ratio Fool’s Gold?
  • Exclusive Study: Banks Don’t Need More Than 8 Percent Capital Leverage Ratios
  • Read Between the Lines – 10 Percent Capital Should Be the Norm: Hoenig
View Issue

Bank Insights February/March  2018

  • The Strategic Case for M&A – Why Hidden Trends Mandate a New Approach for CEOs and Board
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights January/February  2017

  • CECL Myths and Realities: Why Small Banks May Benefit from the New Accounting Standard
  • What Community Banks Need to do to Prepare for CECL
  • The Latest Regulatory Guidance on CECL
  • Read Between the Lines – While Under Fire, CFPB Wins Key Court Ruling
View Issue

Bank Insights October/November  2016

  • The M&A Analytical Primer: Notes for the Intelligent Acquirer, Part Two: The Loan Portfolio
  • Why a Compliance Mindset is Hurting Community Banks
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights September  2016

  • Special Report: An M&A Analytical Primer: How to Solve Community Bank Problems When Organic Growth is Not the Answer
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights August 2016

  • Looming Problems Portend Hard Times Ahead for Community Banks
  • Regulatory Write-ups Point to Emerging Risks in Community Banking
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights July 2016

  • Insufficient Stress Testing Leads to Increased CRE Concentration Risk Management Warnings
  • How Technology is Changing Bank Analytics
  • Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights June 2016

  • Stress Testing and Vintage Analysis are Key to Managing CRE Concentration Issues
  • How Banks Can Get Ready for CECL
  • 10 Things Community Banks Should Think About After Brexit
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights May 2016

  • Earners and Burners: An M&A Analysis of the 2016 Community Bank Market
  • Webinar: How to Manage CRE Concentrations
View Issue

Bank Insights April 2016

  • Why Banks Need to Know About Negative Interest Rates and Deflation
  • Don’t Be a Rubber Stamp, FDIC Tells Boards in Special Corporate Governance Report
  • View from the Sidelines: A Retired Bank Exec Shares Insights about the Economy, Regulation and the Future of Community Banks
View Issue

Bank Insights March 2016

  • Overcoming M&A Obstacles: A Q&A on Common Problems in the Community Bank Market
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights February 2016

  • What Regional and Community Banks Can Glean from CCAR/DFAST 2016 Scenarios
  • Why Community Banks Need ‘Large Bank’ M&A Tools to Gain a Competitive Edge
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights January 2016

  • Regulators to Banks: CRE Lending May Lead to More Required Capital
  • How Forward-Looking Risk Analytics Became an Essential Community Bank Tool
  • Regulators Outline Risk Management Practices of Successful Banks
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights 2016
A Regulatory Outlook


View Issue

Bank Insights December 2015

A BANK INSIGHTS SPECIAL REPORT
  • Anatomy of an M&A Deal: How New Analytics Reveal Hidden Aspects of KeyCorp’s First Niagara Acquisition
View Issue

Bank Insights October 2015

  • Three Ways CEOs Should Adjust Their Strategic Thinking in the CECL-Era
  • CECL Will Focus on Forward-Looking Forecasts
  • CECL’s Road to Implementation and its Potential Effect on the Economy
View Issue

Bank Insights September 2015

  • As Consolidation Looms, Once-Reluctant Banks Begin M&A Conversations
  • How New Analytics Determine M&A Valuation Based on the Acquiring Bank’s Financials
  • Five Lessons that Banks with M&A Aspirations Can Learn From Serial Acquirers
View Issue

Bank Insights August 2015

  • M&A Economics: Navigating the Trade-off between EPS Accretion and TBV Dilution
  • Nine Ways a Stock Market Correction May Affect Community Banks
  • Strategic Planning Means Managing Tradeoff between Risk and Return: FDIC
View Issue

Bank Insights July 2015

  • Caveat Emptor: Community Banking M&A in the Post-recession World
  • Why CEOs Must Pay Attention to Regulatory Capital Silos: A Strategic Planning Primer
  • Estimated Impact of FDIC Insurance Changes
View Issue

Bank Insights June 2015

  • Regulatory Scrutiny Focuses on Inadequate Strategic Planning
  • Five Takeaways from the DoddFrank Stress Test Results
View Issue

Bank Insights May 2015

  • Pre-Filing Make Sense in M&A Deals
  • As Cyber Threats Increase, Regulators Worry about Bank Readiness
View Issue

Bank Insights April 2015

  • Spotting Issues in the Community Bank Boardroom: Five Emerging Trends in 2015
  • Changes to Call Reports and Capital Among Proposals to Reduce Regulatory Burden
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights March 2015

  • Anatomy of a Bank Deal: Why New Bank Analytics are Essential in M&A
  • Strategic Risk Emerges as Key Issue for Community Banks
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights February 2015

  • Regulators are Focusing on Community Bank Interest Rate Risk Assumptions
  • Why Strategic Planning is Key to Interest Rate Risk Management
  • Risk-Reward vs. Risk — A Key Distinction
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights January 2015

  • Finding and Keeping Community Bank Directors in the New Regulatory Environment
  • Building A Bank Board for Success
  • Regulators say Lack of Management Succession Planning is ‘Key Risk’
  • Despite Political Talk, Regulatory Capital Focus to Continue
  • Read Between the Lines
View Issue

Bank Insights 2015: Year in Review

  • End-of-year regulatory round-up and look ahead for 2015.
View Issue

Bank Insights December 2014

  • What Community Banks Should Learn from the Fed’s CCAR 2015 Scenarios
  • Warning: Traditional Loan Review May Cause Banks Trouble in the Future
  • The “Catch 22” on Bank Capital.
View Issue

Bank Insights October 2014

  • Regulatory Focus on Strategic Planning Means New Analytics for Approval
  • Leading the Board of Directors through Effective Strategic Planning
  • Why Strategic Planning is So Important to Community Banks
View Issue

Bank Insights September 2014

  • How Stress Testing Can Become a Bank’s Profit Center, Not a Cost Center
  • Stress Testing Gives Bank Board Confidence to Issue Dividend
  • Understanding the Tax Implications of Bank Mergers
View Issue

Bank Insights August 2014

  • Five Essential Questions Boards Should Ask During the Strategic Planning Season
  • Q&A Session with Ex-FDIC Official and Banker on M&A, FDIC priorities and what to do to increase CAMELS scores.
View Issue

Bank Insights July 2014

  • Lessons from a Community Bank Turnaround: Capital is King
  • Stress Testing Myths and Realities
  • How Stress Testing Strengthens CAMELS: A Client’s Perspective
View Issue

Bank Insights June 2014

  • FDIC Wake-up Call: No More Regulatory Carve-Outs for Community Banks
  • Takeaways from the FDIC Speech
  • How to Get a Green Light on Your Future Plans
View Issue

Bank Insights May 2014

  • How to Spot the Risks in Your Investment Portfolio
  • From Stress Testing to M&A, Financial Innovator Revamps Analytics
View Issue

Bank Insights April 2014

  • Lessons from the Fed’s Stress Tests
  • Invictus Stress Test Analysis Shows Leverage Ratio Trouble for 10% of Banks
  • ALLL Impact Still Uncertain: Credit Loss Model Changes Debated
View Issue

Bank Insights March 2014

  • How the Proposed Liquidity Rule for Large Banks Could Trickle Down to Community Banks
  • A Client’s Perspective: How Stress Testing Is Helping A Troubled Bank Look To The Future
View Issue

Bank Insights February 2014

  • Using the Right M&A Analytics to Drive ROI
  • Ways to Use the Invictus Acquisition Gauge
  • Risk Assets and Loan Vintages Emerge as Key M&A Analytics
View Issue

Bank Insights February 2014

  • Expect Interest Rate Risk Management Scrutiny from Examiners in 2014
  • How To Manage IRR In A Changing Economic Environment
  • Rising Interest Rates: Not Just a Liability-Side Risk
View Issue

Bank Insights 2014: Year in Review

  • End-of-year regulatory round-up and look ahead for 2015.
View Issue

Bank Insights December 2013

  • What to Expect in 2014
  • Five Requirements for Effective Community Bank Stress Testing
  • The Importance of ‘Three-Dimensional’ Banking to Community Banks
View Issue

Bank Insights November 2013

  • M&A Requires Patience, Proper Analytics
  • The New M&A Due Diligence Tool: Stress Test Your Targets
  • Invictus Capital Efficiency Radar
View Issue

Bank Insights October 2013

  • Regulators Outline Best Practices for Capital Adequacy Planning
  • Five Knowledge Points for Boards
  • Risk Management Tools Tied to Better CAMELS Rating
View Issue

Bank Insights September 2013

  • Between a Rock and a Regulator: How Troubled Community Banks Should Use Stress Testing
  • FDIC Spells Out Benefits of Community Bank Stress Testing
View Issue

Bank Insights August 2013

  • Community Banks and Basel III: What to Know
  • How You Identify and Measure Risk Can Be Key to CAMELS
View Issue

Bank Insights July 2013

  • FreeCapital™: The New Bank Metric You Should Know and Use
  • Stress Testing As an ‘Offensive Weapon’
View Issue

Bank Insights June 2013

  • Getting Your Risk Officer from the Back Room to the Board Room
  • Stress Testing Without Loan Origination Detail Is ‘Absurd’
View Issue

We give our clients a competitive advantage.