Success Measured Differently For Large and Small Lending Institutions

Clearly Dodd-Frank affects different lenders in different ways.

Unquestionably, there are fewer banks and many fewer new banks are being established than even a few years ago, as this article at BankDirector.Com claims. The author strongly implies that Dodd-Frank is causing the problem. But his lament that banks are providing lower percentage returns on investment is undercut by his admission that for years after the Depression banks accepted much lower returns on investment and the pre-2008 crash level of profits was not necessarily representative. The article references large banks only.

Another study by Experian claims that while overall the number of banks and credit unions is going down, presumably the result of the burdens of regulation (among other things) community banks with assets over $1 billion are doing well and credit unions with assets over $1 billion are doing even better, with double digit loan growth. However, the Experian study clearly shows community banks and credit unions remain conservative in their lending, and it is difficult to see how that trend is not affected by Dodd-Frank.