Jackie Stewart is the executive editor of American Banker Magazine. Previously, she covered breaking news, community banks and mergers and acquisitions for American Banker before being named as the managing editor of the Credit Union Journal. After graduating from Northwestern University in 2006, Jackie taught for two years in the Bronx, N.Y., through Teach for America.
Receiving Wide Coverage ...Trader Sneak Peek Ending: Thomson Reuters will suspend providing a select group of investors with advance results of an important consumer confidence survey from the University of Michigan. The financial information company pays the school more than $1 million a year for the privilege of being the exclusive distributor of the report and releases the data two seconds early to about a dozen clients, who pay a hefty fee. Legal experts claim that the arrangement does not violate insider trading laws, the New York Times says. Thomson Reuters is a not a government agency, so it can distribute information as it sees fit as long as it discloses the practice. But New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman began investigating in April to see if the advance look violates state securities-fraud law. Thomson Reuters "is fully cooperating with the N.Y. Attorney General's review and made this change voluntarily at the request of the Attorney General," the company said in a statement, according to the Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal, New York Times
Carolina Premier Bank hopes its blend of Southern charm and robust technology (robotic bankers, anyone?) will be a hit with residents in the nation's capital.
First Virginia Community Bank in Fairfax has named a new chief operating officer and added a chief marketing officer position.
Despite a drop in truth in lending lawsuits, industry executives fear that new regulations and the emergence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could prompt a revival in disclosure-related lawsuits.
A recent study found that customers want products like identity theft alerts and mobile bill pay from their banks. But many community banks are unable or unwilling to offer those products.
StoneCastle Financial is planning an initial public offering to raise up to $150 million for bank investments.
Daniel Walker made his way from working as an elevator operator at Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach to heading up the California company.
Farmers & Merchants in Long Beach, Calif., has grown significantly since 2008 largely because of successful efforts to keep key employees from bolting.
First BanCorp (FBP) has traveled a bumpy road to recovery but top management hopes a clear strategy will help the San Juan, Puerto Rico, company complete its turnaround.
West Bancorp. recently took out a loan to buy back 8% of its common stock, while BNC Bancorp used borrowed funds to exit Tarp.
Community banks can't cost cut their way to prosperity, though it certainly is a step in the right direction, a recent Fiserv study found.
Seacoast Banking of Florida has opened five offices in the last three months, called "fuel cells," to focus on small businesses. The aim is to foster more collaboration between commercial clients and Seacoast employees.
Investors, analysts and reporters have overestimated the Georgia bank's interest in doing M&A deals, chairman and CEO Kessel Stelling says.
In a low-growth market, aggressive banks are seeking to grow by poaching top performers from rivals. There are effective ways to keep top talent on board.
The bank wants to double in size by pursuing acquisitions and hiring bankers away from competitors.
The long-held notion that community banks, by definition, provide exceptional customer service is getting debunked.
A growing number of community banks are hiring consultants to negotiate core processing and IT-service contracts, which are typically among a bank's biggest expenses.
Organic growth, dealmaking and innovation are taking a backseat to compliance, bank executives told KPMG in a new survey.
Regulators let Synovus acquire a failed bank its first deal in four years though it still owes Tarp $968 million. A surprising number of similar deals have occurred in recent years.
The Chicago-area company has started financing employee stock-ownership plans as a way to eke more business out of commercial clients.