First Interstate Bancorp is issuing $200 million in fixed-rate preferred stock through underwriters led by Merrill Lynch & Co. Early indications are that the dividend will be close to 9.75%.
The Los Angeles bank will be the second California bank to tap the preferred stock market in October. Wells Fargo & Co. issued $225 million in preferred last week.
Should the all-stock transaction close as planned later this year, Wintrust Financial in the Chicago area would gain about $2.7 billion of assets.
The Arkansas Republican is currently the vice chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and has a deep background in the banking industry and policy.
The Buffalo, New York-based bank set a goal four years ago to limit its commercial real estate loan portfolio to 160% of its capital and reserves, and it's closing in on that target, says Chief Financial Officer Daryl Bible.
Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Mass., and Sheldon Whitehouse, R.I., decried the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's suit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's credit card late fee rule, saying the suit is an example of the kinds of frivolous litigation it opposes elsewhere.
The New York megabank is working to deploy artificial intelligence as it seeks to make its own operations more efficient. Solomon also sees an "unprecedented" opportunity in financing clients' needs as they invest in AI.
In an ongoing case, Citi and the New York attorney general are disputing who is responsible for wire transfer fraud that drained a customer's retirement savings.
