1,200 Bankers at Convention

U.S. banks are in their best health in years, but bankers say that the future is far from bright because of competition from non-bank entities.

More than 1,200 bankers have assembled here for the annual convention of the American Bankers Assn., the industry’s largest trade group. The meeting begins today and goes through Tuesday.

It comes at a time when profits are at record levels and the number of bank failures has slid. Banks are, however, losing customers to less-regulated mutual funds, brokerages, finance companies and others that can offer higher returns and more competitive loans. Bankers blame the erosion of market share on decades-old laws that curb banks’ ability to sell securities and insurance as well as restrict their ability to operate branches across state lines.

Bankers are looking to Washington for help, and the Clinton Administration has responded. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen late last month unveiled Administration plans to streamline the banking industry. The White House wants to permit interstate branching, and it wants to shrink the number of regulatory agencies overseeing the industry.