Correspondent Blog

As of May 2025, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintained the federal funds rate at a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%.  This decision not to move reflects the Fed’s cautious approach amid rising risks of both inflation and unemployment, influenced by recent tariff policies.  Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasized the heightened uncertainty, stating,…

Analysts, regulators, legislators, and bankers have been attributing the root cause of SVB’s failure in the past month.  Some blame the dilution of the Dodd-Frank provisions, others the lack of oversight by regulators, and others still blame social media for exacerbating the deposit run.  The root cause of Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) failure is poor…

Bankers can be forgiven for not anticipating the start of the pandemic.  However, bankers must now be planning their business to capitalize on the transition from a pandemic to an endemic environment.  There is convincing evidence that the global economy will transition to an endemic phase after the omicron variant subsides – but caveats abound. …