Who actually controls the banks in How to Rob a Bank?
Ryan can point a camera at a bank and give his audience a villain. In the US system behind the Pittsburgh setting, control is divided among owners, directors, managers and regulators, each with different decisions to make.
Smart summary
A teller, a credit officer, a bank board and a regulator can all touch the same customer’s life. To understand the movie’s anger, follow one decision through the building.
Who owns a bank, and who runs it?
Take a shareholder-owned commercial bank. Investors hold equity, the board oversees strategy and risk, and management runs the business. A branch employee applying a policy has a different kind of power from the executive who proposed it or the board that oversees it. A customer can have a legitimate grievance and still spend an afternoon arguing with the only person who lacks the authority to fix it. The US Comptroller’s guide to bank boards and management.
What does a bank actually do with money?
Think of two neighbors. One needs somewhere to receive a paycheck and pay rent. The other needs a loan to open a shop. A commercial bank handles payments and offers credit. When a bank makes a loan, it generally creates a matching deposit. The loan is an asset on its books and the new balance is money it owes the account holder. This is why an image of a vault full of bills explains so little about a lending decision. The Bank of England explains the mechanics.
Can a bank lend as much as it wants?
No. Consider a shop that closes six months after borrowing. The borrower’s unpaid debt may turn into a loss for the bank. Banks also need capital and enough liquidity to meet payments, and regulators impose requirements. Creating a deposit is an accounting event. Making a good loan requires a judgment about the future, and someone can get that judgment badly wrong.
Who checks a US bank when something goes wrong?
It depends on its charter and other features. The OCC supervises national banks, while the Federal Reserve, FDIC and state authorities have responsibilities for different institutions. For a real complaint, the useful first detail is the legal bank name on the statement. The FDIC’s guide helps a customer identify the right regulator. In the film the FBI pursues a robbery, which is a different job altogether. How the FDIC identifies a bank’s regulator.
Pylcrow’s take – Where does the movie aim its anger?
A logo is easy to film. A policy meeting about whom to lend to is harder. Yet that meeting might determine whether a hundred families get a mortgage. I enjoyed the swagger of Ryan’s challenge. I’d also love to see him get five minutes with the person who wrote the rule he thinks is unfair, and have to ask a precise question.
More from Pylcrow’s How to Rob a Bank series
Frequently asked questions
Does depositing money make me a shareholder?
An ordinary deposit makes the bank owe you the account balance. Shares are a separate ownership interest in a shareholder-owned bank.
Is there one person who controls all US banks?
No. Ownership, management and supervision vary by institution. You can identify the regulator for a specific bank through the FDIC’s consumer resources.
