John Reosti

Isabel Casillas Guzman, administrator of the Small Business Administration, wants the agency to get involved in direct lending, a practice that was discontinued during the Clinton administration. Congress has not embraced the idea, to put it mildly.

The New York-based bank says it will push its concentration of commercial real estate loans below 400% of risk-based capital over the next two years and focus more on C&I.

The Jackson, Mississippi, company will use proceeds from the sale of its Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance unit to restructure its investment portfolio, moving $1.6 billion of low-yield securities off the balance sheet.

Republicans on the House and Senate Small Business committees are accusing the SBA of being irresponsible in granting Funding Circle permission to participate in its flagship loan-guarantee program.

At a time of mild or nonexistent loan growth, middle-market borrowers in the Lone Star State are providing a boost to Fifth Third Bancorp and Huntington Bancshares.

The Cleveland-based bank is projecting steady growth in net interest income even as credit losses remain manageable. But Chairman and CEO Chris Gorman also said that he thinks a recession is likely.

After the Minneapolis-based company reported stubbornly high commercial deposit costs, it reduced its full-year forecast for net interest income by $200 million-$500 million.

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.

The giant custody bank convinced clients to park more money in accounts with the Boston-based company, prompting it to increase its full-year 2024 projections, Chief Financial Officer Eric Aboaf said.

The beleaguered Long Island bank has recently seen at least 16 teams walk out the door, according to announcements by Dime Community Bancshares and Peapack-Gladstone Financial.

The decision to approve the fintech's application to make 7(a) loans came nearly a month after Funding Circle's U.K.-based CEO hinted it is considering a sale of its U.S. operations, alarming some members of Congress.

Mergers have left Virginia without an independent statewide financial institution. Atlantic Union CEO John Asbury is trying to change that.

VersaBank in London, Ontario, agreed nearly two years ago to buy a small Minnesota bank. The buyer's CEO says he remains hopeful approval will come soon.

Each spring during the rush of annual meetings, a handful of financial institutions take heat from shareholders who demand new strategies, management shakeups and, at times, even a sale of the company.

Funding Circle, one of the fintechs that received an SBLC license last fall, lost $5 million in 2023 and plans to focus on its U.K. operations. Republican skeptics of the SBA seized on this, and Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman's renewed push for the agency to make direct loans.

Investing in Main Street Act has passed the House three times with overwhelming majorities but has failed to gain traction in the Senate. Backers, including banks that invest in the funds, hope to flip the script with a third version.

Peapack-Gladstone's wealth unit is pursuing an ambitious de novo expansion in New York and perhaps elsewhere because M&A has become expensive as private equity money has inflated seller expectations.

The agency had intended to block access to tax data by most lenders on June 30 as part of a policy change that sought to protect taxpayer privacy. But drew broad opposition from the financial services industry.

The Columbus, Ohio, regional bank will focus first on Dallas before venturing statewide. Its move into the Lone Star State comes three months after announcing a similar initiative in the Carolinas.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp declined to detail the savings it expects from the downsizing, though one analyst estimated it could shave $3 million from the company's annual noninterest expenses.