The Purposeful Banker

PrecisionLender's Gita Tholleson, author of the recent report "Risk Levels and Bank Behaviors During COVID-19" joints the podcast to discuss her findings.

With risk mitigation on the minds of commercial bankers everywhere, it's time to look at how they're measuring risk - and where those ratings might be coming up short.

With COVID-19 forcing banks to support a remote workforce, and to rapidly process PPP applications, have commercial banks reached a point where digital transformation moves from "innovative" to "expected"?

Commercial banks are out of survival mode and have at least grown accustomed to life with COVID-19. There's time now for them to ask "Okay, what's next?" We discuss some options in this episode.

As commercial banks step up efforts to mitigate risk, they worry about RMs that might ignore the rules and guidelines. Is their concern valid or should they focus risk-reduction efforts elsewhere?

What's it like for commercial RMs in the midst of their first financial crisis? And how should banks handle difficult workout conversations with clients?

Many banks are trying to reduce risk by only allowing senior execs to make all key commercial lending decisions. Is that approach actually having the opposite effect?

Mergers and acquisitions - once an attractive tactic for banks - have become more problematic during the COVID crisis. Why are some banks pulling the plug on planned mergers, and how are banks that made recent acquisitions handling the new lanscape?

With Main Street Lending programs finally about to start, how should banks approach them? Will MSLP stimulate more activity? And how should banks think about risk with these deals?

Banks have been heads down in processing PPP deals, but they need to step back and consider some big questions, like how they plan to tackle Main Street Lending, and what their risk profile looks like going forward.