CHARGING…! CLEAR…! THUNK…! CHARGING…!
If Wal Mart were a good corporate actor, it’s bid to get a banking license would probably have been a simple matter. But it isn’t and it hasn’t been. And now, after 15-months, things look grim and it appears that the Bentonvile Behemoth has no allies in sight.
From Desert News:
Wal-Mart’s banking bid is on life support. The FDIC in July issued an unprecedented six-month moratorium on all applications for these specialized banks, freezing Wal-Mart’s effort. Utah, which also must approve the application, has stayed mum. Powerful members of Congress are lining up to pass laws that would block Wal-Mart, or any nonfinancial company, from getting into the U.S. banking business.
That’s bad news for the world’s biggest retailer, which is already facing slowing growth in the U.S. and has stumbled in several overseas forays. It also affects 11 other companies that have applied for the type of permit Wal-Mart is seeking, including Home Depot Inc., DaimlerChrysler AG and Ford Motor Credit, part of Ford Motor Co.
Wal-Mart’s effort to open a bank has galvanized a broad coalition of opponents: large banks, small banks, the Federal Reserve, unions, grocers, real-estate agents and congressmen of both parties.
Wal Mart: the equal-opportunity target.
[...] Earlier I wrote about how Wal Mart’s quest for a banking license was all but dead on the table (I still don’t give up on the Frankenstein option, with the Bentonvile behemoth, you never know) but then I read this post from a blogging banker: [...]
[...] CHARGING…! CLEAR…! THUNK…! CHARGING…!If Wal Mart were a good corporate actor, it’s bid to get a banking license would probably have been a simple matter. But it isn’t and it hasn’t been. And now, after 15-months, things look grim and it appears that the Bentonvile Behemoth has no allies in sight. Keep reading… [...]