Kristin Broughton

CEOs on the hot seat. Banks fighting to stay independent. Comfortable players ripe for disruption from Amazon and others. It is shaping up as a riveting year.

Banks need to stake out a presence on platforms that have nothing to do with banking.

It was a year to remember for women executives at SunTrust and Amex’s new CEO, and one to forget for Wells Fargo and investors in bank stocks.

Branch acquisitions, once a popular way to scale up in new markets, have started to go by the wayside in the digital age.

It’s still primarily a commercial bank, but the branding campaign — CIT’s first in a dozen years — is designed to appeal to the group driving its torrid deposit growth: retail savers.

Men on Wall Street take a cue from Vice President Mike Pence in refusing to dine one-on-one with women; Coinbase adds fertility benefits; and the CFPB has a new leader. Plus, Bank of America's Katy Knox gets promoted.

CFO John Gerspach said he's not worried about legislation in Mexico to ban retail banking fees becoming law based on recent comments by the nation's president.

The changes affected Dean Athanasia, Thong Nguyen, Katy Knox and Andy Sieg. The company also gave more responsibility to Chief Administrative Officer Andrea Smith.

Big-bank execs downplayed gloomy economic forecasts and said a commercial lending rally, niche M&A and smart tech spending will drive growth in 2019.

Robert Rubino will join the New York company in February as president of CIT Bank and head of commercial banking.

Technology is often cited as the leg up large banks have in winning over customers, but regionals are worried about the “billions and billions” bigger rivals can pour into ubiquitous ad campaigns.

There is a surprising amount of pessimism in the air among bankers, including fears of another recession and House Democratic activism. But there are lots of reasons financial institutions should be feeling good.

Are midsize banks in position to disrupt, or are they investing billions in technology because they can’t afford not to?

Tepid loan and deposit growth has been a persistent theme in 2018, but that could soon change for community and regional banks in the New York and Washington markets.

Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat added to the chorus of bankers offering warnings about credit risks that loom outside of the banking industry.

Mexico's next president wants to prohibit banks from charging ATM and other fees. That could be bad news for Citigroup and other banks with large retail networks in the country.

JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo detailed aggressive marketing plans, defended their credit judgments and downplayed the threat of a retailer revolt over high fees on rewards cards.

The decision by Citigroup’s board to name an independent director as its next chairman — and not elevate CEO Michael Corbat to the post — is seen as good governance, but it’s also a sign that the company’s recovery from the financial crisis remains a work in progress.

Heightened competition from nonbanks, the rise of populism and the uncertainty surrounding Libor’s demise are just some of the short- and long-term threats facing big banks, risk executives say.

Christopher Higgins will join MUFG Americas in December as chief information and operations officer.