Jim Dobbs

Anita Gail Moody, who was president of Enloe State Bank, admitted to creating phony loan documents — and setting a fire to destroy them — before the bank was shuttered in May 2019.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, financial institutions, wary of robberies, prevented customers from covering their faces. As branches reopen, public health concerns are forcing accommodations.

Faced with limited growth opportunities and potentially mounting loan losses, banks are getting aggressive — and creative — to boost profits.

Bankers spent Monday cleaning up damaged branches, wondering if their small-business clients will need more emergency aid and contemplating how the racial and economic inequalities highlighted by days of violent protests nationwide can be corrected.

The company will incur an upfront fee but will save $7 million a year by walking away from a deal with the Los Angeles Football Club.

At least four pending deals have been canceled since the economy was locked down to slow the pandemic's spread. With banks' market values falling and loan-loss provisions piling up, more terminations are likely.

Some lenders are issuing debt and preferred stock to provide an extra buffer for credit losses. Others are preparing for growth opportunities.

Craft Bank, which plans to open this summer, is in the final stage of raising $30 million in initial capital.

With rates so low — after steep emergency Federal Reserve cuts in response to the pandemic’s fallout — banks will struggle to generate bread-and-butter interest income and asset-sensitive lenders will face substantial net interest margin contraction this year and next, analysts say.

More write-downs seem inevitable as the coronavirus outbreak wreaks havoc on the economy and bank stocks.

Banks could end up holding many low-rate Paycheck Protection Program loans on their books for two years, and dealing with irate borrowers who failed to meet federal requirements for forgiveness.

Thomas Lopp cited health reasons for leaving Sterling Bancorp less than six months after becoming CEO. Sterling has been dealing with revenue issues after shutting down its biggest lending program over underwriting concerns.

Lenders that scrambled to grant forbearance as the coronavirus pandemic took hold are unsure about the extent of potential losses.

Stay-at-home orders and business shutdowns have led to a sharp decline in consumer use of credit and debit cards.

Organizers of Rockpoint Bank still need to raise $30 million before opening.

Funneling fees from emergency loans to feed the hungry. Supporting psychological counseling for health care heroes and financial advice for the poor. Backing retrofits of customer operations to produce protective gear for front-line medical personnel. Bankers and financial educators have tossed out the traditional playbook to help clients and communities in crisis.

The millions of dollars earned from Paycheck Protection Program transactions will help cover rising provision costs tied to the new CECL accounting standard and coronavirus shocks to loan books.

The American Bankers Association and the National Bankers Association will collaborate on training and advocacy efforts.

Community banks that have used the Paycheck Protection Program to help businesses ride out the coronavirus outbreak are looking to turn that goodwill into deeper loan and deposit relationships down the road.

The Ohio company, which bought United Community Financial in February, will start operating as Premier Bank this summer.