[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Webster Bank is merging with New York’s Sterling Bankcorp in a $10.3 billion deal. The new bank will be based in Stamford. No word on where. Jay

https://westfaironline.com/135283/th...-billion-deal/

Really great stuff and much needed It'll be nice to see some office space in town come off the market with this newly minted HQ. Little by little.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Webster Bank is merging with New York’s Sterling Bankcorp in a $10.3 billion deal. The new bank will be based in Stamford. No word on where. Jay

https://westfaironline.com/135283/th...-billion-deal/

Good news. We need a new bank hq to hire some to have jobs to be eliminated at Peoples next year due to its merger. This should take up some of the slack.

The words to watch in mergers as they are synonyms for firing staff are "efficiencies" and "duplicities in operations". What they truly mean is "We have 2 H/R departments. We need one. We have 2 Accounting departments. We need one".

So Webster's news could not come at a better time. Deals should finalize close together (Webster & People's deals).

[Old Dominionite]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Good news. We need a new bank hq to hire some to have jobs to be eliminated at Peoples next year due to its merger. This should take up some of the slack.

The words to watch in mergers as they are synonyms for firing staff are "efficiencies" and "duplicities in operations". What they truly mean is "We have 2 H/R departments. We need one. We have 2 Accounting departments. We need one".

So Webster's news could not come at a better time. Deals should finalize close together (Webster & People's deals).

My family used Webster Bank before leaving Connecticut. This made me think of some old bygone local banks.

We initially used Burritt Bank out of New Britain before that bank went under and its assets were acquired by Derby Savings in the early 90s. Then we used Derby Savings until Webster (much smaller back then) bought them out in the mid 90s.

Good to see that Webster is staying headquartered in Connecticut, although I wonder how many jobs will stay in Waterbury (vis-a-vis Stamford) in the years to come.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Old Dominionite

My family used Webster Bank before leaving Connecticut. This made me think of some old bygone local banks.

We initially used Burritt Bank out of New Britain before that bank went under and its assets were acquired by Derby Savings in the early 90s. Then we used Derby Savings until Webster (much smaller back then) bought them out in the mid 90s.

Good to see that Webster is staying headquartered in Connecticut, although I wonder how many jobs will stay in Waterbury (vis-a-vis Stamford) in the years to come.

My first mortgage was with Burritt. Very good local banks Not to date myself, I think the interest rate was 11%.

There were so many banks that have disappeared over the years. I don’t think it’s good that they keep merging to form larger banks. Too Large to Fail is a fallacy as the financial crisis of 2007 showed. And Bigger is NOT better. Banks I remember include Connecticut Bank & Trust, Connecticut National Bank, State National Bank, Society for Savings, Mechanics & Farmers Bank, and City Trust Bank. Sad that they, and the state jobs they created are gone. Jay

[robr2]

Originally Posted by JayCT

My first mortgage was with Burritt. Very good local banks Not to date myself, I think the interest rate was 11%.

There were so many banks that have disappeared over the years. I don’t think it’s good that they keep merging to form larger banks. Too Large to Fail is a fallacy as the financial crisis of 2007 showed. And Bigger is NOT better. Banks I remember include Connecticut Bank & Trust, Connecticut National Bank, State National Bank, Society for Savings, Mechanics & Farmers Bank, and City Trust Bank. Sad that they, and the state jobs they created are gone. Jay

Too Big To Fail wasn't referring to a big bank can't fail. It was more about the bank being so big that the government would never let it fail.

In today's banking world, it's Too Small and Will Fail. The old save at 3, loan at 6, tee off a 3 doesn't apply anymore. Retail banking is a low margin business and the one branch Any Town Savings Bank can't survive.

[Speegleagle]

Originally Posted by JayCT

My first mortgage was with Burritt. Very good local banks Not to date myself, I think the interest rate was 11%.

There were so many banks that have disappeared over the years. I don’t think it’s good that they keep merging to form larger banks. Too Large to Fail is a fallacy as the financial crisis of 2007 showed. And Bigger is NOT better. Banks I remember include Connecticut Bank & Trust, Connecticut National Bank, State National Bank, Society for Savings, Mechanics & Farmers Bank, and City Trust Bank. Sad that they, and the state jobs they created are gone. Jay

Yep, and that is just a partial list. First Federal Savings in East Hartford , United Bank in Hartford, Sentinel Bank in Hartford , Hartford Federal Savings who merged with Schenectady Bank and Trust to form Northeast Savings, and many others. The state jobs lost are only a portion of the real losses. There were many thriving businesses that had those banks as customers for goods and services, and when the Banks merged or folded, those suppliers were left without their customers. Less customers meant less employees were needed.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by robr2

Too Big To Fail wasn't referring to a big bank can't fail. It was more about the bank being so big that the government would never let it fail.

In today's banking world, it's Too Small and Will Fail. The old save at 3, loan at 6, tee off a 3 doesn't apply anymore. Retail banking is a low margin business and the one branch Any Town Savings Bank can't survive.

I remember very clearly what it meant and how it was used. It dates back to the 80’s when the Federal Government went gunning for smaller regional and local banks and forced them to be bought out by CERTAIN large banks.

I’m not normally a conspiracy theorist but I find it highly suspicious that so many regional banks were declared insolvent. People in the banking industry at the time said it was pretty evident they were out to get the smaller institutions. Banks that were solvent but did not meet very high standards were folded and their assets taken over by large banks. They were given these banks. Why were they so willing to give large banks breaks but not assist the smaller ones over a rough time?

And as the financial crisis of 2007 showed big financial institutions have big problems that aren’t easy or cheap to fix. Smaller institutions have smaller problems that are easier to solve. I think we made a big mistake by making large banks even larger. As you can see these banks are less responsive to local needs and less involved in the communities they serve. How is that better? It isn’t. JMHO. Jay

[robr2]

Then you you it all came down to the S&L crisis.

1/3 of the nation's savings and loan banks failed in the 80's. The primary job of S&L's was provide mortgages for the middle class. They were limited in the interest they could charge and pay. When the economy tanked in the early 80's and savers started shifting savings to money markets, S&L's couldn't compete. In 1982, Reagan signed the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act allowing S&L's to make commercial loans, raise interest rates, and loan far more than they had in the past. It was supposed to allow them to be more competitive. It also made it easier for banks to merge.

Well the owners and managers of those S&L's fell into the "greed is good" go-go 80's and started making risky investments expecting the FSLIC to be there to pick up the pieces. As banks failed, they ran out of money. In 1989, Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act was enacted creating Resolution Trust to pick up the pieces and examine the status of all S&L's. Many banks were liquidated with bigger banks taking over the assets of many that weren't solvent. Those less solvent banks that were given to the big banks was done to limit taxpayer funds being paid out.

Yes I agree that banks have gotten to big but that's how our economy works today.

Two weeks ago here in MA, Century Bank, was bought by Eastern Bank creating the largest MA based. Century was family owned, yes family owned. But they know they couldn't keep keep up with the big banks and I'm sure $650 million didn't hurt.

[BobNJ1960]

Alternative Philanthropic buyer for Courant is out of the running. Alden Capital now faces no competition for these papers.

https://www.courant.com/business/hc-...cf4-story.html

[BobNJ1960]

Sad story to read. Long ago, I interviewed there. It was a Ct success story, Bigelow Tea style family run. Rapid growth. I am shocked covid caused distress for their business. They are being bought for a pittance relative to what they were worth just a few years ago.

Had several hundred employees for many years.

Given the debt load, I can't imagine the buyer operates them, in place, w/o massive cuts to right the finances. Be curious to see if buyer owns other facilities which could take the operation over. Not sure how much of the debt was secured. Many lawsuits remain to be settled as well, with property pledged as collateral.

The fact buyer wants to do contract manufacturing leads me (due to my financial background) to question if severe under-utilization is crippling the long-term business model. No one makes the juicy margins premier pasta can make by manufacturing lower end pasta products for someone else.

https://www.courant.com/community/so...7ha-story.html