The Banker Next Door

This episode examines a research report from CSBS titled “Too small to scale: What 10 years of data say about community bank compliance costs.” The report found that smaller banks reported spending 11% to 15.5% of their payroll on compliance tasks, compared with 6% to 10% for the largest banks. Data-processing costs consume 16.5% to 22% of small banks’ budgets versus 10% to 14% for larger banks. Consulting costs diverged the most, ...

This episode examines Bank Director’s 2026 Bank M&A Survey. Bank Director found that “the gap between buyers’ and sellers’ pricing expectations may be closing as potential acquirers look for ways to add low-cost deposits.” Some of the key findings revolve around boardroom discussions, angling for a better price, mixed plans on subordinated debt, organic growth drivers, limited interest in Crypto, and optimism on the economy. Li...

This episode reviews a recent working paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco titled “What is a Tariff Shock? Insights from 150 years of Tariff Policy.” The main finding of the report is that Tariffs are deflationary! “We find that a tariff hike raises unemployment (lowers economic activity) and lowers inflation.” With all the focus on Tariffs this year, this report is a must see! A link to the report is included below...

America’s farm system is in trouble. Parts of it are collapsing in real time. Over regulation is crushing small farmers. An Idaho farmer named Steve Jarvis has a plan. It entails wiping out every farmer’s debt! Very radical, but he might be on to something. Any bank or banker that is involved with agricultural lending should listen to this episode. If your state is highly dependent on agriculture, you should listen to this episode....

Envy is one of the seven deadly sins. Envy is defined as the intense desire to have an item or quality that someone else possesses. Envy is at the very heart of socialism. The recent creep in the U.S. toward socialism politically is very troubling. The U.S. has been here before in the 1930’s during the great depression. History has proven that socialism does not have the answers to economic problems that society seeks. Envy is a po...

The way we dress conveys a message about how we see ourselves and others. Seeing people ‘dressed up’ is becoming increasingly rare. At the same time, the clothes we wear speak volumes about us.  In business, clothes are essential to how you appear to others. How you carry yourself, how other people view you, how seriously you are taken. In society, clothes give us many clues into the mental health of the country. This episode exami...

Due to the recent government shutdown, SNAP benefits and the American welfare state came into focus. Massive fraud in the SNAP program was unveiled. A deeper analysis shows a massive growth in the welfare state since the 1960s. It was recently announced that all SNAP recipients will have to reapply in an effort to crack down on fraud. What does the current state of the SNAP program and welfare in America really tell us about our ec...

David Danielson is an investment banker and Managing Director at The Kafafian Group. During the interview we discuss factors that will boost bank M&A in 2026, what drives M&A pricing, why larger banks trade at a higher multiple, why interest ‘yield marks’ discourage deals, how big was the equity hit to AFS in 2022, and will we see another wave of bank M&A. David has more than 25 years of experience advising financial in...

Most banks across the U.S. are facing some level of margin compression. As a result, it is becoming increasingly more important to understand who your most profitable customers are and how you can boost their profitability. This episode reviews an article from Bank Director titled “Figuring out who is profitable and who is not: A banker’s guide” and a report from White Clay titled “Customer Profitability Insights.” A link to the ar...

Another one of those ‘one-off’ events occurred as Blackrock wrote off its entire $150M investment in Renovo Home Partners. Another blowup in the private credit market. In addition, we check in on the ongoing lawsuits and fallout from the First Brands collapse. BDO’s role as the auditor of First Brands. Major U.S. insurers continue to gobble up private credit deals. Wall street’s reaction. Blackstone offloads a $1.8 billion investme...

The CRE maturity wall was created by the increase in interest rates from the Federal Reserve starting in 2022. The increase in rates caused banks to ‘extend and pretend’ hoping that the Fed would eventually bring down rates making it easier to renew and roll over existing CRE loans. This action pushed CRE maturities out to 2025 through 2027. The CRE maturity wall continues to shift with 2026 now becoming a big year. This episode re...