# The Big Banks Should Follow GE Out of the Dark

1 Opinion May 4, 2015 Financial News ![Roy C. Smith](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/uat_025572.jpg?itok=Kn4Ckx0s) By Roy C. Smith > The lesson for the banks, which still flinch at trying such a radical amputation of their own ailing units, is plain. Bite the bullet.

There is a lesson for the big banks in the way GE has disposed of its finance arm.

The initial strategy, to dismantle GE Capital piecemeal, evoked little approval from the market. It was not until GE announced last month that it was selling off the entire unit that investors rewarded it with a price rise, so far sustained.

The lesson for the banks, which still flinch at trying such a radical amputation of their own ailing units, is plain. Bite the bullet.

Read the full article as published in [Financial News](http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2015-05-04/big-banks-should-follow-ge-capital-out-of-the-dark)

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*Roy C. Smith is the Kenneth G. Langone Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance and a professor of Management Practice.*## More Opinions from Roy C. Smith

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