Nation's ninth-largest bank to cease eminent domain loans

Regional bank BB&T Corp. will make no loans to developers who plan to build commercial projects on land taken from private citizens by the government through the power of eminent domain, the company said Wednesday.

"The idea that a citizen's property can be taken by the government solely for private use is extremely misguided, in fact it's just plain wrong," John Allison, chairman and chief executive of the Winston-Salem-based bank, said in a statement.

It's good to see a bank take a principled position like this, but I suspect that there is also some sound business thinking here as well. Banks have more to lose from eminent domain abuses than anyone other than the property owner.