Re:Why America will soon see a wave of bank mergers
by than3 on Tuesday May 02, 2023 @07:21PM
(#35795554)
There are a lot of good reasons for it.
First, centralization and consolidation increase the risk of fraud and corruption, and malign influence with regards to antitrust.
Second, almost no new banks are being chartered. What do you think typically happens when you go from Many -> Few (single digits) -> 1.
If something happens because they play the bailout game, the only real option is for nationalization.
Third, their sector mandate is to loan money to businesses that can use that money to turn a profit and feed the economy. They've stopped doing that outside a few corrupt friends(entities).
What you often don't hear about is what happens when they are the only game in town, they know your business is stressed, and they refuse to loan to you on arbitrary grounds (behind closed doors) knowing they can buy it up in bankruptcy for pennies on the dollar for a larger profit.
Like what Amazon did to the baby diaper companies.
First, centralization and consolidation increase the risk of fraud and corruption, and malign influence with regards to antitrust.
Second, almost no new banks are being chartered. What do you think typically happens when you go from Many -> Few (single digits) -> 1.
If something happens because they play the bailout game, the only real option is for nationalization.
Third, their sector mandate is to loan money to businesses that can use that money to turn a profit and feed the economy. They've stopped doing that outside a few corrupt friends(entities).
What you often don't hear about is what happens when they are the only game in town, they know your business is stressed, and they refuse to loan to you on arbitrary grounds (behind closed doors) knowing they can buy it up in bankruptcy for pennies on the dollar for a larger profit.
Like what Amazon did to the baby diaper companies.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/07/emails-detail-am...