Laura Alix

Citizens Financial is going out of market to find midsize businesses in need of credit or advisory services in uncertain times. It is a good example of the resiliency that regional banks are showing amid softer loan demand, Washington gridlock and still-low interest rates.

Executives at Wells Fargo, SunTrust and PNC insist that credit cards, mortgages and other consumer lines can help pick up the slack as commercial borrowers remain cautious.

Loan growth is tepid, optimism has waned for regulatory and tax reform, and questions abound on consumer credit, bank executives are warning as midyear approaches.

Canada's big banks are pursuing wholesale banking, capital markets and select M&A opportunities across the border to hedge against a slowing mortgage market and other economic concerns on the home front.

The Toronto bank said increases in deposits and loans spurred a 20% rise in profit at its U.S. retail bank from a year earlier.

Royal Bank of Canada got an earnings boost from its U.S. capital markets business and its ownership of City National Bank in Los Angeles, helping to offset softer growth at home.

New mothers were bailing out from the Cincinnati bank at twice the rate of other women employees, so it decided to offer a maternity concierge service that would help them with stressful chores.

Online lenders are evading New York regulations by claiming their loans are “made” by federally chartered or out-of-state partner banks, Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo told lawmakers Monday.

The city joins a growing list of municipalities that have filed similar lawsuits, just two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that municipalities have standing to sue lenders under the Fair Housing Act.

The regulator said that the Bank of Lake Mills, Freedom Stores and Military Credit Services violated the FTC Act.

Regions Financial is taking steps across its 1,500-branch network to embrace consumers with autism and train its staff to help them. Business development, not just compassion, is part of the motivation.

Even as units of a larger holding company, local banks fight the perception that they can’t provide sophisticated services like corporate or private banking. Executives say that unifying the brand will help Synovus better compete against larger players.

A one-time capital gain in last year’s first quarter obscured strong loan and deposit growth at BNP Paribas' U.S. subsidiary.

The Cincinnati bank's profit-improvement plan is as detailed as it gets, but there is an argument to be made it is heavy on metrics and light on vision.

The Sun Belt lender also increased fee income and kept expenses down in the first quarter.

The Tulsa, Okla., company also benefited from higher interest and fee revenue while keeping expenses under control.

The Cincinnati company’s 1Q profits were hurt as it scaled back in key consumer and commercial credits, paid higher severance and saw fee income fall.

Zions beat expectations on several bits of good news, but it reported about $30 million of chargeoffs tied to a single commercial borrower.

Strong gains in low-cost health savings account balances helped fuel loan growth at the Waterbury, Conn., company.

Executives at BB&T, KeyCorp and Citizens are milking commercial lending niches and balancing cost control with new investments while waiting for more rate hikes to fatten margins.