Is just a little crime OK now or what?

Is just a little crime OK now or what?

From Breaking Banks by Breaking Banks - The #1 Global Fintech Podcast

May 22, 2026 · 55 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of a lighter regulatory environment on banking strategies and moral considerations in finance.

In This Episode Kiah Haslett walked into our Hot Takes session at the Alloy Labs annual member meeting with a thesis she’d been sitting on, and it’s a good one: in a lighter-touch regulatory environment, the prisoner’s dilemma rewards whoever moves first. The strategically correct move, she argues, might also be the morally bankrupt one. And she’s not sure that changes the math. Dara Tarkowski — who sees the grand jury subpoenas before anyone else does — pushed back. Not on the logic, but on the premise. The statutes didn’t go anywhere. The switch can still be flipped. And underneath both arguments is the question we’d been wrestling with the day before: if most banks only have a debt mindset — protect the downside, don’t lose, get your principal back — what are they leaving on the table? And what does it actually cost them to keep waiting for clarity that isn’t coming? Joining Jason Henrichs are Kiah Haslett (Fintech Takes Banking), Dara Tarkowski (Much Shelist, P.C.), and Rick Geloff (Bank of North Dakota).

People in this episode

Host: Jason Henrichs

Guests: Kiah Haslett, Dara Tarkowski, Rick Geloff

Topics covered

  • regulatory environment
  • prisoner's dilemma
  • banking strategy
  • morality in finance
  • debt mindset
  • clarity in regulations

Keywords

  • regulation
  • banking
  • morality
  • strategy
  • debt
  • clarity
  • subpoenas

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Alloy Labs, Much Shelist, P.C., Bank of North Dakota

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