One Lump, or Two?
Robert G. Wilmers would fit right in at a Tea Party rally.
The chairman and chief executive of M&T Bank Corp. in Buffalo said in his
A swelling deficit and pending tax increases could stifle job growth, he said. He also suggested that what he termed the government's heavy-handed involvement in the financial sector helped ruin the economy, as the government-sponsored enterprises failed to keep the home market from overheating while costing investors billions of dollars in losses. Overhauling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — while scaling back the government's encroachment in the private sector in general — is paramount in healing the economy, he said.
"Unless we begin to make tough choices about the size, cost and purpose of government, the effects on our way of life are frightening to contemplate," Wilmers said.
At Her Service
Corporate gadfly Evelyn Y. Davis appears to count at least three chief executives among her personal bankers.
Her High Lights and Low Lights newsletter, which she distributed to reporters after spending 18 minutes yelling at Chairman Richard Parsons over various issues at the Citigroup Inc. shareholders meeting Tuesday, included letters to the editor from Comerica Inc. CEO Ralph Babb and KeyCorp CEO Henry Meyer 3rd.
"I will PERSONALLY … be there to assist you in filling any of your banking needs," Babb wrote. Meyer wrote Davis that he appreciates both "the opportunity to be your banker, and the confidence you are showing in Key by placing a deposit."
Davis commended both men for following the "good example" set by Jamie Dimon in 2008 when he offered to be Davis' "sole contact" at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
'Over' and Out
SunTrust Banks Inc.'s CEO, Jim Wells, got testy during Wednesday's earnings conference call when analyst Ed Najarian at ISI Group asked him to project when the Atlanta company might pay back its bailout money. Wells has said repeatedly, including during the call, that SunTrust has no timetable for returning the $4.85 billion it received in late 2008.
"I've talked about this now for months and months and I will repeat what I said if that's useful to you," Wells, citing concerns about shareholder dilution, told Najarian. Najarian pressed the issue. An exasperated Wells repeated his comments before telling the analyst that he could call investor relations to get the same comment from someone else.
Najarian attempted to ask another question, when Wells cut him off. "I've had it, Ed. It's over," Wells said. "You had your follow-up. It's over."
