No surprises came out of the two days of public hearings held by the FDIC on Wal-Mart's application to charter an FDIC-insured ILC.
On Monday, Wal-Mart floated a proposal to have the FDIC condition its approval with a "no branching" restriction (or, at least, to require public hearings for any branching proposal). On Tuesday, the FDIC asked various opponents what they thought about that approach ("assuming we could impose such a restriction" qualified FDIC COO John Bovenzi). Not surprisingly, Wal-Mart's opponents were underwhelmed.
"Wal-Mart never gets into something halfway," said
Camden Fine, president of Independent Community Bankers of America.
"When they get into something, they go all the way."
Fine also said that Wal-Mart might not attempt to broaden its banking powers until there were new board members at the FDIC, who might not see bank branching as a substantive change.
In other words, once Wal-Mart gets a foot in the door, it won't be long before it kicks the door wide open, runs in, sacks the place, rapes-then-kills the inhabitants, and consumes all the ice-cold Shiner Bock in the fridge. That's just the Wal-Mart way, say its opponents.
Ya' know, they may be right. I remember when my pet tiger got loose from the back yard. He started eating villagers, and we had to call in the Great White Hunter to track him down and put a bullet in his head. Once a predator gets a taste for human blood, gnu just won't do.
Comments