What bank executive said the following to shareholders at a recent meeting?
The bank’s mission is to “find ways to continue to attract deposits, make sound loans and grow in accordance with our historic credit quality standards.”
A) Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan)
B) Vikram Pandit (CitiGroup)
C) Brian Moynihan (Bank of America)
D) Robert Wilmers (M&T Bank)
What banker increased his bank’s assets from $2 billion to $68 billion in his past thirty years at the head?
A) Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan)
B) Vikram Pandit (CitiGroup)
C) Brian Moynihan (Bank of America)
D) Robert Wilmers (M&T Bank)
If you guessed Robert Wilmers, raise your hand. (If you had previously heard of Mr. Wilmers, take a bow.) M&T CEO Robert Wilmers has managed to remain out of the public eye despite running the most honorable bank in the United States for almost three decades. He received some rare attention in Joe Nocera’s aptly-named column, “The Good Banker”.
There is perhaps no more apt nickname. Wilmers is a good banker with even better morals. He’s old school, valuing bankers’ reputations, which has dropped to “third worst” among the professions, according to Wilmers. Unlike most executives, Wilmers recognizes the moral hazard of major bank bailouts and the incentive to maximize risk—to the benefit of the big shots, and at the cost of Main Street.
It’s a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose arrangement for Main Street, but Mr. Wilmers sets himself apart as the only banking executive honest enough to point to the problem. Kudos to Joe Nocera for drawing attention to Wilmers’ perspective, and to CEO Wilmers for standing tall in an era of slinking away ‘neath the shadows of money stacks.
Assisted by David Martin