What’s easier to control? 8-10 national banks or thousands of independent regional or local banks?
“Though his bank generated just $441,000 in net income last year, he was compelled to increase spending on internal staff and outside consultants — lawyers and auditors, mostly — to deal with all of the added regulatory burdens stemming from the financial crisis. Those burdens were heaped on top of the mountain of regulations that already existed for small banks, ranging from credit reporting to anti-bribery laws. “It’s across the board,” Sturges told the Wall Street Journal in early April. “When you only have 20 employees, any increase is a lot,” he said.”
Death by red tape; unfortunately an increasing number of people living in this country have no idea who George Bailey is, and are unlikely to care much about this issue.