
Why We Shouldn’t Regulate Reputation Risk at Banks
What do payday lenders, firearms retailers, porn stars, churches, coal mines, and condom companies have in common? All have complained that regulators pressured financial institutions to close their accounts over reputation-risk concerns. In a my article (available here), forthcoming in the Georgia Law Review, I explain that broad regulation of reputation risk does not reduce bank risk and unnecessarily politicizes bank regulators.
Financial regulators say reputation risk is the risk of negative public opinion or negative publicity. Wells Fargo, for example, hurt its reputation by opening millions of unauthorized customer accounts. Reputation is important to all businesses, but it … Read more