Wal-Mart Can Do Us Good Taking on Bank of America

Bloomberg by David Reilly | Mar. 19, 2009 (Opinion)

One suggested out: Create new banks that wouldn’t be saddled with the soured loans and toxic assets constraining other lenders.

That’s easier said than done. Even with government funds, most start-ups couldn’t muster the technology, infrastructure and management expertise to form the kind of big, national bank that could quickly have an impact.

Most, that is, except for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The retailing giant could ... Full Story »

Posted by Kevin Barry

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3.9

by Naomi Isler - Mar. 19, 2009

The article has the interesting premise that a huge new bank free of the asset and liquidity problems of existing huge banks. In a way that's what the Treasury's 'bad bank' proposal would create by getting the bad assets off the books of existing banks. But if the real problem is that banks now fear lending even to entities with good credit ratings, why would Wal-Mart, even with its supposedly superior insights into its customers, be any different?.

And why would we think that one of the world's more unsavory corporations would be immune from unsavory banking practices???