美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why small banks take issue with bailing out Silicon Valley and Signature banks

Why small banks take issue with bailing¹ out Silicon² Valley and Signature banks

Transcript³

The government's lifeline to customers of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank cost more than $20 billion. By law, lenders will have to pay for it. Small banks say they shouldn't be on the hook.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

About $22 billion - that's how much the U.S. government expects to spend to rescue customers of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. And that's money other lenders will have to pay back. As NPR's David Gura reports, smaller community banks are not happy.

DAVID GURA, BYLINE⁴: More than a thousand miles away from Santa Clara, Calif., where Silicon Valley Bank was headquartered, is the town of Columbia Falls in northwest Montana. It has a population of about 5,500, and it's right on the banks of the Flathead River.

DON BENNETT: We're a tourist town. We're about 20 miles from Glacier⁵ National Park.

GURA: It's where Don Bennett founded Freedom Bank almost two decades ago in his basement. Since then, it's grown. Bennett moved it into a trailer, then into a brick building downtown. But Freedom Bank's business model has not changed, and it's nothing fancy. It caters⁶ to locals, Bennett says, offering a mix of mortgages, car loans and commercial loans.

BENNETT: Freedom Bank is approximately $140 million in size. We're a vital part of our community, and we're doing very well.

GURA: Unlike many other lenders, including Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, Freedom Bank did not load up on government bonds when interest rates were low. Those investments have lost value as interest rates have gone up, and it was a big reason why those two banks failed.

BENNETT: We don't have any losses in our portfolio⁷ whatsoever⁸.

GURA: It's ironic⁹, Bennett says, that just a few hours before Silicon Valley Bank collapsed¹⁰, he was explaining Freedom Bank's conservative, commonsense¹¹ approach to shareholders¹², telling them why the bank hadn't bought bonds. Still, Bennett says he supported the government's decision to intervene.

BENNETT: I feel like if that did not happen, there would have been a huge hot mess all across the country. So I think they did the right thing there.

GURA: But now Bennett is worried Freedom Bank will be on the hook. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - the FDIC - is required by law to do a special assessment¹³ of its member banks to recoup the money it spent extending a lifeline to customers whose deposits were not insured, who had more than $250,000 in the bank. And ultimately, it'll be up to the FDIC to decide which banks pay it.

BENNETT: I don't think that community banks should pay the price of, you know, the disaster that took place with those two or three banks. We had nothing to do with it. Our business models are different.

GURA: Other small community banks are making the same case to the FDIC. About 20 miles south of Columbia Falls is the town of Kalispell, where A.J. King runs Three Rivers Bank of Montana. It has about $300 million in assets, and King also wants no part of the special assessment.

A J KING: We're totally innocent in this. Now they're saying, OK, banks, you're going to have to pay for this. I don't think we should be responsible for paying for what other banks did.

GURA: According to King, Three Rivers Bank has a strong loan portfolio. It works with shops and restaurants, loggers and concessionaires in the national park. King believes the bank forks over enough already to the FDIC to ensure customers' deposits.

KING: We're paying up around $130,000 a year. And for the size of our bank, that's a big expense. That's a commercial lender salary.

GURA: King's been a banker for 37 years, and he says it's not as much fun as it used to be. Today, Three Rivers Bank has just over 50 employees, and King claims half of them are focused only on complying with regulations. Back in Columbia Falls, Don Bennett of Freedom Bank also worries about the impact of any special assessment or any new regulations.

BENNETT: Right now, I'm telling you, it's so difficult to be a small, independent community bank these days.

GURA: The chair of the FDIC recently told lawmakers he's sympathetic to the concerns of bankers like Bennett. And the White House backs an exemption¹⁴ for small community banks. We expect to see the FDIC's proposal for the special assessment in May.

David Gura, NPR News.

1 bailing   

（凿井时用吊桶）排水

参考例句：

• Both fountains were going furiously and both pumps bailing with might and main. 两个人的口水只管喷泉似地朝外涌，两个抽水机全力以赴往外抽水。
• The mechanical sand-bailing technology makes sand-washing operation more efficient. 介绍了机械捞砂的结构装置及工作原理，提出了现场操作注意事项。

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

6 caters   

提供饮食及服务( cater的第三人称单数 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• That shop caters exclusively to the weaker sex. 那家商店专供妇女需要的商品。
• The boutique caters for a rather select clientele. 这家精品店为特定的顾客群服务。

7 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

8 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

9 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

10 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

11 commonsense   

adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的

参考例句：

• It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.这种天气带把伞是很自然的。
• These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.这些结果只不过是按常理分析得出的事实。

12 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

13 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

14 exemption   

n.豁免，免税额，免除

参考例句：

• You may be able to apply for exemption from local taxes.你可能符合资格申请免除地方税。
• These goods are subject to exemption from tax.这些货物可以免税。