Jim Dobbs

Banking executives and analysts worry that the Federal Reserve's aggressive plan to raise interest rates will be insufficient to tame inflation and overcome economic fallout from the war in Ukraine.

Tim Hicks, the Arkansas company’s chief administrative officer, will succeed Greg McKinney as CFO in June. Meanwhile, Cindy Wolfe will be promoted to the newly created role of chief operating officer.

Mike Roffler takes over at a time when the San Francisco bank’s focus on mortgage lending is expected to come under pressure from rising rates.

The San Francisco bank promoted its president, Mike Roffler, to the top job. He succeeds founder Jim Herbert, who has been on medical leave and now becomes executive chairman.

With the Russia-Ukraine conflict intensifying and prices soaring, the bank could be among many to report similar issues in the first quarter.

Citing customers’ increased adoption of digital services over the past two years, banks are shrinking their physical presence, while also renovating the locations they keep — but credit unions are bucking the trend.

Chicago Title Insurance Co. and Chicago Title Co. LLC agreed to the payment to resolve a lawsuit brought by the bank, which said the firms had helped orchestrate a borrowing scam involving liquor licenses, according to a regulatory filing.

The $142 million deal would vault the buyer from the 21st-largest bank in Philadelphia to the 12th largest.

TriCo Bancshares said regulators will allow it to finalize its $165.6 million acquisition of Valley Republic. The deal was initially expected to close last year.

Richard Adams Sr. will step down from United Bankshares' top job on April 1, after 47 years. Current President Richard Adams Jr. will take over.

The Canadian banking giant established a nine-month window to finish its $13.4 billion purchase of First Horizon, which could be challenging given the tighter regulatory scrutiny of bank M&A. After November, the price tag will go up.

The New York bank said it called off the acquisition of Amalgamated Bank of Chicago because it has been unable to obtain regulatory approval. But the seller expressed hope that the deal could still move forward.

Brad Bolton, incoming chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America, wants the advocacy group to push back against overly broad policymaking and credit unions' tax status, while opening the door to cannabis banking.

The Federal Reserve and the FDIC are weighing changes to their policies for reviewing mergers and acquisitions, and that’s creating a sense of urgency among bankers to cinch deals now.

An ultracompetitive job market is forcing lenders to boost salaries, requiring many to caution investors that expenses could jump before profits from higher rates are realized.

In the year's first instance of a credit union buying a bank, Georgia’s Own Credit Union in Atlanta has agreed to acquire nearby Vinings Bank. The Peach State is home to more than 300 banks, making it ripe for such deals.

With their costs soaring, farmers may need credit to make ends meet. Bankers see this as a chance to offer more loans, but worry that some borrowers may not be able to make their payments.

The process is expected to begin this summer and extend into late 2023, ultimately saving the Iowa company about $20 million annually.

Four-fifths of the state's community banks have disappeared since the start of the 2008 financial crisis. The founder of the newly chartered Scottsdale Community Bank calls the market "drastically underbanked."

Community bankers are excited that the Federal Reserve is poised to raise interest rates, which would make loans more profitable — unless rates rise so much they suppress demand.