AMES, Iowa – As head of Iowa’s largest independent bank, Suku Radia knows there are several lessons the industry can learn from the banking crisis that led to the Great Recession. The CEO and president of Bankers Trust will share those lessons as the 2013 speaker for the Robert Stafford Lecture Series on Banking in Iowa State University’s College of Business.
Radia will also answer the question posed in the title of his lecture, “Banking: An Industry in Crisis – Is It Over Yet?” He says the answer is not a simple yes or no.
“The answer is rather complicated only because of the fact that we have an economy that seems to be recovering, but is sputtering along,” Radia said. “I would argue that we’ve come a long way, but we’re not back to where we were.”
The lecture will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, in the Stark Lecture Hall, 1148 Gerdin Business Building. It is free and open to the public.
In addition to lessons from the recession, Radia will talk about what is needed to fully heal the financial system in this country. Instead of keeping interest rates artificially low, the Federal Reserve needs to take decisive action, he said.
“Over some period of time the country’s going to have to accept the fact that we cannot continue to amass massive budget deficits,” Radia said. “There will be an inevitable rise in interest rates and it’s just a matter of how long do you put off the inevitable.”
Prior to joining Bankers Trust, Radia served as chief financial officer of Meredith Corp. for eight years. Radia was managing partner of KPMG in Des Moines from 1993 to 2000. During his 25-year tenure at KPMG, he counseled senior management of several national and international entities on a number of financial issues.
Radia is active in professional, economic development, educational and charitable organizations. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree, with distinction, from Iowa State in 1974. In 2012, he received the Iowa State Alumni Merit Award.
The Robert Stafford Lecture Series on Banking was established by the College of Business in 2004 and is funded by Ames National Corp. in honor of its 100 years of service to the Ames community. The gift honors the late Robert Stafford, who was longtime president and chairman of First National Bank, Ames, and Ames National Corp.
