Paul Davis

The trend of shrinking loan books has reached those in charge of them. Last year, loans to insiders at the nation's biggest banks fell 31% from a year earlier, to $5.48 billion, according to call report data compiled by SNL Financial.

Piedmont CEO Custer makes a good cup o' joe; Zions CFO Arnold courts investors; SunTrust chief Wells channels his inner Chaucer; Wells CEO Stumpf following Kovacevich again?

Jim Westlake, as a Royal Bank of Canada executive and the head of its U.S. unit, has an interesting vantage point from which to assess the U.S. and Canadian banking systems. Speaking at a North Carolina Bankers Association conference in Greensboro this week, Westlake outlined how regulation and risk management practices helped Canadian banks weather the storm.

Politicians are still clamoring for more loans to create jobs, shareholders are demanding growth and some bankers are noting improved credit-quality trends.

William Rogers, the $174.1 billion-asset Atlanta company's president, said during a conference held by Raymond James & Associates that loans had declined this year through Feb. 28, albeit at a "slower pace" than in the fourth quarter.

The Treasury Department said it expects to earn $1.54 billion from selling Bank of America Corp. warrants.

A central lawyer in recent deal-making says regulators should have higher pay; BONY Mellon's chief economist argues bipartisanship caused the crisis; and more.

Bankers committed to taking Texas by storm during the recovery will need to revise their playbooks. Banking companies determined to expand in the state have made it abundantly clear that acquisitions will be a crucial component of achieving growth.

Bank of America Corp. is combining it global card and deposits businesses in the first major realignment under new consumer division president Joe Price.

The creation of another high-profile investment group intent on buying failed banks is leading some to wonder if there are too many sharks circling the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Jesse Jackson pushes B of A CEO Moynihan to suspend mortgage payments for the unemployed and those serving in Afghanistan and Iraq; Atlanta City issues an arrest warrant for JPMorgan Chase and Jamie Dimon; U.S. District Court Judge Jed Radkoff cites Yogi Berra in his opinion on the SEC's settlement with B of A; and more.

BB&T Corp. is spreading its risk, joining the migration of bigger banks toward small business and smaller individual loan exposures. Really small, in BB&T's case.

Bank of America Corp. investors authorized an increase to the company's outstanding shares, completing a plan to exit the Troubled Asset Relief program.

Synovus Financial Corp. has promoted the chief executive at one of its biggest banks to become the Columbus, Ga., company's president and chief operating officer.

Regions Financial Corp. is reshuffling management just weeks before new CEO Grayson Hall is set to succeed C. Dowd Ritter.

Regions Financial Corp. is reshuffling management just weeks before new CEO Grayson Hall is set to succeed C. Dowd Ritter.

The move could foreshadow broader changes that may squeeze lenders' already tight margins, raise deposit-gathering costs and discourage lending when the political pressure to rev it up is high.

"Stop Too Big to Fail" campaign gains steam; Risk Management Association chooses one of its own to fill CEO post; Banks' eco-friendliness a matter of perception; and more.

B of A said Thursday that Kunal Kamlani will join the Charlotte company next month as a managing director and head of global investment solutions.

A concern is that the laggards keep falling behind and face temptation to get aggressive, perhaps introducing new risk to balance sheets already roughed up by the recession.