Laura Alix

In a newly created role, Tony Sciarrino will oversee middle-market bankers in more than a dozen offices across California.

BBVA Compass said on Wednesday that it was partnering with the broker-dealer Brean Capital to offer a variety of capital and investment banking services for community banks and correspondent banks.

The number of consumers being pursued by debt-collection agencies fell dramatically in the past year, but it's as much technicality as achievement, and bankers need to keep that in mind when reviewing the credit scores of millions of Americans.

Good credit analysts are in short supply, says David Nicholson, a senior VP of commercial lending at a community bank. But fair warning for job seekers: Only dogged questioners who can think critically need apply, because vetting business borrowers is as much art as science.

Good old-fashioned commercial credit analysts are a dying breed, David Nicholson says. Community banks need them to stay competitive in C&I, but training courses have been cut back. So he’s on a mission to teach as many students as he can.

JPMorgan Chase, SunTrust and PNC are pressuring outside counsel to get more women and minority lawyers to represent them in court even at the risk of alienating the big, traditional law firms that they have done business with for years.

Depending on the asset class, about 11%-18% of earnings per share came from tax savings. The looming question is how do they top themselves in 2019 when tax rates don’t change like they did this year.

The San Antonio company also kept a lid on expenses in the second quarter, further boosting its bottom line.

In addition to leading the company’s national business banking efforts, Peter Sefzik will also oversee small-business banking. Brian Foley, the chief credit officer for the Texas market, will succeed him as market president.

In a 2015 enforcement action, the San Francisco Fed said it had identified problems with the Pasadena, Calif., bank’s BSA and anti-money-laundering compliance programs.

The Salt Lake City company reported a 21% increase in second-quarter profits, even as its decision to scale back commercial real estate lending muted overall loan growth.

Loan growth, fueled by increased tourism spending, more than offset a sharp drop in fee income at the Honolulu company.

Despite some green shoots in key credit segments, total loan growth was light at many banks last quarter. Rate hikes are threatened, and deposits will get pricier — where will the earnings come from?

The Birmingham, Ala., bank also saw lending decline in the quarter as strategic reductions in certain business lending lines offset gains in C&I and consumer.

Repayments on acquired residential mortgage loans were the main reason, but other bottom-line boosters more than made up for that, the Buffalo, N.Y., bank said in reporting second-quarter results.

Comerica faced aggressive questioning Tuesday about how it could use freed-up capital now that it’s no longer considered a systemically important financial institution. It won’t be the last small regional to get such a grilling this earnings season.

Declines in corporate banking and energy loans were part of the reason loan growth was light, but the Dallas bank reported strong earnings thanks heavily to fatter margins.

After the Cincinnati bank started a personal assistant service for new mothers, it learned new parents needed help with budgeting, and that motivated it to team up with a Goldman Sachs firm to establish a financial wellness program for all its employees.

Jennifer Jackson will succeed Shane Holdaway as head of the Toronto-based unit, which has 1,200 employees.

The final sale price came it at $6.9 billion, or about $900 million more than what the two firms agreed upon when the deal was announced in November.