Bank Executive Survey

With close ties to business and consumer borrowers, bankers are often the first to know about changes in the economic climate. Their views on their own fiscal health and that of the nation also shape the lending environment. With that in mind, Grant Thornton LLP and Bank Director regularly examine the thoughts, challenges and plans for growth among bankers across the nation, compiling regional and national analysis, as well as trends based on past survey responses.

Grant Thornton LLP's 18th Annual Bank Executive Survey, conducted with Bank Director magazine, takes the pulse of bankers on a variety of issues, from the state of the national economy to the impact of Dodd-Frank.

Key findings:

Almost four in 10 bankers (39 percent) think the U.S. economy will improve, a vast improvement since the last time the survey was conducted in August 2010, when only 15 percent of bankers expected improvement.
Nearly one-third (32 percent) of bankers expect the number of people employed by their bank to increase over the next six months, an uptick from the last installment when only 23 percent reported plans to increase hiring.
The overwhelming majority (91 percent) indicated the burden of regulatory reform as a key concern for their bank over the next 12 months, far surpassing any other concern.
Almost half (48 percent) of bankers do not believe Dodd-Frank will be effective at all in detecting the broad risks to the financial system and preventing or reducing the threat of a future taxpayer-funded bailout.
More than half (52%) of respondents say they are currently reassessing mortgage procedures in light of recent enforcement actions of federal banking agencies.

Download the full report.

Learn more about Grant Thornton’s Banking and Securities practice
As the national banking and securities industry leader, Nichole Jordan is responsible for overseeing the service offerings to Grant Thornton LLP’s banking and securities clients around the country. She can be reached at nichole.jordan@us.gt.com.

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