Community bank to Paulson: Take your bailout and shove it!

By Michelle Malkin  •  November 17, 2008 10:14 AM

A reader e-mails: “I am a very loyal fan of your blog and I appreciate all that you do! Attached is a letter from my bank’s chairman Mariner Kemper to Henry Paulson explaining why we refused to be bailed out. I am so proud to be an employed at an institution that stands up to socialism (and didn’t
follow the lemmings off the sub-prime mortgage cliff).” Kemper is CEO of UMB Financial, which refused to take additional capital under the U.S. Treasury Department Capital Purchase Program.

Right on!

November 3, 2008

Mr. Henry M. Paulson, Jr.

Secretary of the Treasury

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220

Dear Secretary Paulson:

As I reflect on the financial crisis that has gripped our nation, I feel compelled to write to you.

Government action was clearly needed to help shore up the nation’s financial institutions. I applaud you for taking quick action. However, I am gravely concerned with the actions that have been taken and their long-term implications for both our industry and the impact these measures will have on the moral fiber of our future leaders.

First, the rescue was more of a bailout. Its results will have made the large institutions larger and harder to manage and regulate. Secondly, as the system is repaired, these institutions which took such actions to bring the system down will be rewarded with new capital and clean balance sheets at the taxpayers’ expense. Meanwhile, financial institutions such as UMB will be penalized for operating with sound principles. Our first order of business is to protect our depositors’ liquidity. As a result of your actions, those who abused the system get stronger and those who protected their shareholders’ interest and those of the Deposit Insurance Fund will pay the price.

Lastly, I think it is inappropriate to use taxpayers’ funds to inject into healthy private enterprises. What message are we sending our future leaders? Is there no reward for doing the right thing? It seems there is only penalty. The reward seems to be for the reckless.

I believe that under a new administration, the CPP will become a political issue. I am afraid the new capital being used to shore up balance sheets and make acquisitions will not be looked upon favorably, as its original intent was to free up liquidity for extending credit.

Please while you go about the hard work of repairing our nation’s financial system, do not overlook the opportunity to restore dignity and respect for sound and responsible business principles.

If you don’t stand up for the good guys, who will?

Thank you for your consideration.

Yours very sincerely,

Mariner Kemper

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
UMB Financial

Posted in: Subprime crisis

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Comments


  1. #547154
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:23 am, DogBreath said:

    Amazing. Someone in the banking industry still knows how to do the right thing.

  2. #547156
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:24 am, MtsEdge said:

    Woo-hoo! A glimmer of hope is still alive for our country’s future.

  3. #547159
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:26 am, FilmLadd said:

    How do I deposit money in that bank long-distance? Kudos.

  4. #547162
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:28 am, _lr_ said:

    Midas Mulligan lives!

  5. #547163
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:29 am, Room 237 said:

    One thing to remember is that if you have a well run bank, there may be one personal reason for not wanting to be “bailed out”. Because once you get government money, the government will have a bigger say in how you run your bank.

  6. #547165
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:31 am, Fenguri said:

    Wow! How gratifying to read such a letter. Thank you UMB!

  7. #547170
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:35 am, walterc said:

    This story is being repeated all across the country with small community banks.

    Over the past 20 years I have done business with two banks, Hilltop Bank headquartered in Casper,Wy and Security State Bank based in Basin, Wy. Both community banks with sound business (and most notably lending) practices. When I need a loan, they both require proof of income and a good credit history.

    And they both offer free checking with no minimum balance.

    I have no need for Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citi Bank etc. etc. I have a local banker that cares about me and our community.

  8. #547176
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:36 am, walterc said:

    Oh, and both of my Senators (Dr John Barrasso and Mike Enzi) voted NO on the crap sandwich.

    Way to go guys.

  9. #547177
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:37 am, TxSkirt said:

    Looking for a branch of UMB in my town right now.

  10. #547182
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:41 am, cmj said:

    No branches in Texas but as soon as one opens up I will be going there.

  11. #547185
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:42 am, reshas1 said:
  12. #547187
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:43 am, Christian Soldier said:

    A list of the UMB -type banks and credit unions through out the ststes- would be helpful…
    Then we can support them w/our $$$ savings and loans…while they look out for our investments…
    Thank you-Mariner Kemper…for standing strong and stating your stand through the written word….
    C-CS

  13. #547194
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:46 am, nlebou said:

    I think my bank is one of these. It pays 5% interest on checking with no min balance. The only requirements are e-statements and you must use your debit card at least 10 times per month, which I have no problem with as I never carry much cash. We got enough interest in one account last year to pay 2 of my car payments. :)

  14. #547198
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:48 am, nlebou said:

    OH yes, I forgot. It pays interest up to $25,000 but my hubby and I each have an account.

  15. #547203
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:51 am, cmj said:

    What bank is that nlebou?

  16. #547206
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:52 am, 30 pcs of silver said:

    Here’s UMB’s website. Their locations are scattered throughout the midwest. Darn it.

  17. #547214
    On November 17th, 2008 at 10:54 am, FamilyMan said:

    GEE!
    There’s still someone with a sound mind out there.

  18. #547233
    On November 17th, 2008 at 11:02 am, nlebou said:

    Nope. Just checked. My bank is not one of these but it is a good one. It is a community bank but it is a local bank only. UCB

  19. #547256
    On November 17th, 2008 at 11:22 am, RabbidSquirrel said:

    I closed my Wachovia account a few weeks back and the comments to open an account with UMB sounds like a great idea. All conservatives just need to move their money and accounts into institutions that follow conservative principles.

    Sounds like a great idea for a website.

    Institutions can show their open books and/or prove their soundness and those with capital can choose to invest. One-stop shop

  20. #547259
    On November 17th, 2008 at 11:23 am, SSG David Medzyk said:

    If they have their own ATM card, and will take a new account from California……

    ……I’m changing banks!

  21. #547264
    On November 17th, 2008 at 11:28 am, RabbidSquirrel said:

    Yeh, saw Newt out there touting exactly what he was saying just a couple of days before he caved on the Bailout fiasco.

    Sorry Newt. I like what you say, but for you to flip on a position and then to flip back within just a matter of weeks – I just cant trust you at the moment. (maybe you never really did – but who knows)

    Trust takes a long time to build and you can lose it all forever in just a matter of minutes.

  22. #547272
    On November 17th, 2008 at 11:35 am, RabbidSquirrel said:

    why am i posting about newt on this thread???? hmmm

    sorry i think i made a wrong turn somewhere…

  23. #547274
    On November 17th, 2008 at 11:36 am, RabbidSquirrel said:

    oh…supposed to be on the Palin wins one…my bad

  24. #547275
    On November 17th, 2008 at 11:37 am, Kevin K. said:

    Yeah, UMB Financial! I hope that there are a LOT more organizations like you (both solvent and not taking government money and control).

  25. #547313
    On November 17th, 2008 at 12:12 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    They have an online banking page. I haven’t read the documents yet to see if you can be out of their area and still have an account.

  26. #547322
    On November 17th, 2008 at 12:28 pm, milesfromkansas said:

    Makes me proud to call Kansas City home. Well done, Mr. Kemper.

  27. #547374
    On November 17th, 2008 at 1:00 pm, sandyb said:

    Actually, I remember being near tears listening to Glenn Beck recount the scene from his “Deep Throat” contact who was in on the big meeting when the heads of the banks were told they were getting this bailout $$. There were a few heads of heavy-hitter banks who flat-out refused it — including Wells Fargo — saying they didn’t need it or want it.

    According to Deep Throat, they were told there was no option and that they wouldn’t be leaving the room until they literally signed the paperwork.

    To add to the misery, Beck’s WH Deep Throat predicted that “Americans will finally come to understand the enormity of this financial mess by December. By next December, they won’t recognize their country.”

  28. #547478
    On November 17th, 2008 at 2:01 pm, Vince said:

    This is United Missouri Bank, UMB, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo. The Kemper family has always run their business on the up and up and are a credit to the industry.

  29. #547511
    On November 17th, 2008 at 2:15 pm, Freddy said:

    Well, clearly this chairman just does not get it. His bank will have to be ‘assimilated’ by one of the governmant run banks in order to ‘protect the taxpayers’ interests.

    I would not be surprised to see a ‘hostile’ takeover bid by one if the new ‘government’ banks in the near future. Sometime next summer, when his remarks cool down a bit and the impending IRS audit is ‘announced’, will probably be the right time.

  30. #547520
    On November 17th, 2008 at 2:24 pm, tuffy said:

    Cheers to UMB and those like them!

  31. #547544
    On November 17th, 2008 at 2:39 pm, NJ-Aviator said:

    30 pcs of silver said:

    Here’s UMB’s website. Their locations are scattered throughout the midwest. Darn it.

    But you can do things like open a CD with them. After I have a closer look, that’s what I plan to do.

  32. #548053
    On November 17th, 2008 at 8:03 pm, Little Ma said:

    All Hail UMB and Integrity!!!

    sandyb, at 1:00 pm today, said:

    I too remember, sandy. I hate to think what’s in store for UMB and her ilk.

  33. #548230
    On November 17th, 2008 at 11:03 pm, joshb416 said:

    Room 237 said:

    One thing to remember is that if you have a well run bank, there may be one personal reason for not wanting to be “bailed out”. Because once you get government money, the government will have a bigger say in how you run your bank.

    Sadly I just heard that my bank, M&I, is one of the well run, successful banks attempting to receive government money.

    It seems like the “free” money was too hard to pass up.

  34. #548261
    On November 17th, 2008 at 11:34 pm, Room 237 said:

    I contacted UMB, they only offer services to those in their region.

  35. #548279
    On November 18th, 2008 at 12:38 am, slimjim66 said:

    Well this news makes me glad I am a UMB customer, now can we get Kemper to be Treasury Secretary?

  36. #548396
    On November 18th, 2008 at 8:41 am, tamarah180 said:

    Six – count ‘em – six branches in Colorado Springs and one in Littleton.

    So happy to be out of California!

  37. #548406
    On November 18th, 2008 at 8:52 am, tamarah180 said:

    Nina Criscuolo
    Local banker getting national attention

    Updated: Oct 10, 2008 04:47 PM MDT
    Joplin Globe (Joplin, MO)

    As the country watches the stock market stumble day by day, a local banker says conditions here in the 4 States aren’t that bad.

    In fact, he says “Nothing’s the matter with Kansas”.

    Labette Bank President Bill Wyckoff says he was listening to the radio in his car as a show host described how all banks were struggling, not making loans, businesses are closing and having trouble keeping up with payroll.

    Wyckoff decided to write a short email to let FOX Business know his bank is doing just fine.

    The next day the network was contacting Wyckoff at Labette Bank asking for him to come on the show, which he has done twice now.

    Plus, he the Wall Street Journal recently published an article written by Wyckoff explaining why main street banks are persevering and what we can do to get out of the financial hole on Wall Street.

    He says he glad he could fill the experts in on how Kansas is doing.
    “I did that showing how great and wonderful Kansas and as I call it, the fly over zone that none of them know to talk about, and that we were all alive and well and that there are lots of banks out here to make loans and keep businesses in business,” Wyckoff says.
    Since his TV appearances and Wall Street Journal article, Wyckoff says he has received hundreds of letters and phone calls from people across the country.

    On Thursday, he even received a call from U.S. Senator Pat Roberts thanking him for getting the word out about the economy in Kansas.

    His Article from the WSJ:
    Nothing’s the Matter With Kansas
    My bank is still making loans. We have none in default.
    By BILL WYCKOFF
    Here in the heart of Kansas, the sky isn’t falling and Chicken Little isn’t running around without a head.

    Community banks like mine are still making loans and serving the needs of customers.

    I used to worry about competing in the world of mega “too-big-to-fail” banks. But now I know community banks offer something the monsters can never offer — real personal service. Many financial-type businesses say they offer the same thing, but they usually don’t list personal numbers in the phone book and probably aren’t driving the volunteer fire truck. My father always told me that character repaid many more debts than collateral ever would. Community banks form long-term relationships with customers.

    During the farm crisis of the 1980s the over-line credits we had placed with the city correspondent banks were called. A community bank used to rely on participating loans with large metro banks. For example, if my bank had a regulatory loan limit of a million dollars and I made a two million dollar loan, I would “sell” the over-line to a large bank. These large banks suddenly suspended and called all rural credits. This is probably similar to what is happening to borrowers who use super-large banks in today’s panic environment. There was nothing wrong with these loans but every small bank suffered from this irrational wrath.

    A group of fellow bankers formed an ad hoc loan-pooling arrangement and we traded loans. Not a dime was lost, no borrowers were sold out and we didn’t need a government bailout. It did instill a fierce sense of independence and self reliance.

    Today we are reacting to a crisis that absolutely everyone knew was going to happen. Can you tell me that the entire congressional delegation from California didn’t read a newspaper or watch any TV when unregulated brokers were offering 100% loans and allowing borrowers to make up their income?
    Appraisal rules were established after the savings-and-loan debacle. The brokers and packagers weren’t regulated so some appraisers really had a field day being creative. And now the government thinks we need new rules? They didn’t enforce the existing ones.

    Community bankers get really ticked off when Treasury can, with the stroke of a pen, guarantee $50 billion in money-market mutual funds, including the tax exempt funds. These funds didn’t participate in generating the guarantee dollars, weren’t regulated, and aren’t subject to Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rules.

    Why does that not surprise me? The CRA was passed in 1977 to ensure that banks meet the credit needs of their local communities but in effect practically compelled some regulated lenders to make loans to people and projects that have limited ability to repay them. Billions of these loans have been made, with a large percentage of the housing loans ending up at Fannie Mae.

    Community banks feel that if we must follow these CRA rules to comply with deposit insurance regulators, then anyone else receiving government guarantees should as well. Banks paid for all of the FDIC fund dollars as well as the operating costs of their regulators. We have been competing with these money-market funds for years, they mess up and now are handed a “get out of jail free” card.

    All of the media pressure about this terrible crisis has really worried people. We community bankers must spend time reassuring folks that everything will be fine. The best way I have found to do that is to make more loans this September than we made a year ago, offer new products, and serve a fantastic group of customers with home loans at our bank where all is well and none are facing foreclosure.

    If the government really wanted to help banks stimulate this economy, all that would be needed is a bonfire eliminating redundant red tape. While starter homes may cost a half-million dollars in some parts of this country, they are one-tenth of that here. So why does the borrower sign but three pieces of paper to process a $50,000 auto loan but needs two dozen-plus documents (which are never read) for a home purchase of the same amount? All that extra paperwork sure didn’t protect anyone in this crisis.

    Can anyone tell me why my small bank headquartered in a town of 1,100 is subject to the onerous rules of CRA, HMDA, CIP, FACTA, Red Flag and others?

    We have no red-lined areas or stop lights and everyone is making a low or moderate income. We were probably at the hospital when the borrower was born.

    I am really concerned about my grandchildren’s future being mortgaged by a $1 trillion porked-up bailout. But our small bank, along with many others, is alive and well and still making loans. To paraphrase the late great Kansas newspaperman William Allen White: What’s right with Kansas are the more than 300 local banks taking care of Main Street.
    Mr. Wyckoff is president of Labette Bank in southeast Kansas

  38. #548475
    On November 18th, 2008 at 9:53 am, NJ-Aviator said:

    Room 237 said:

    I contacted UMB, they only offer services to those in their region.

    Ugh… yeah.. it occurred to me that to deposit anything, you’d probably have to show ID in person. The ole pesky money laundering thing I suppose.

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