Polo Rocha

Car loan delinquencies are worsening across all age groups and income levels, as high interest rates and elevated car prices take a toll, according to the New York Fed. But executives at some large auto lenders remain relatively confident about their customers' ability to stay afloat.

A day after the regional bank's stock tumbled on tough fourth-quarter results and some austerity moves, observers debated whether management just needs time to build enough capital to catch up with growth or if it is still too overexposed in multifamily lending.

With tougher capital requirements looming, a number of regionals including U.S. Bancorp, Huntington and Santander are using these new instruments to share risk with nonbank investors and lighten their capital load. Experts point out the pros and cons.

The parent company of Flagstar Bank surprised investors by slashing its dividend, charging off two large real-estate loans and preparing for more trouble in the office and multifamily sectors.

The stable outlook is an indication that — at least for some lenders — the much-feared cycle of cardholders defaulting on their obligations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic may not turn out to be so bad.

The private student loan market is in flux after one major lender, Discover Financial Services, said it's leaving the sector. Sallie Mae is gearing up to compete for that business, much as it did when Wells Fargo pulled up stakes in 2020.

The private equity firm Caryle is buying a $415 million student loan portfolio from Truist Financial. It's also investing in a nonbank student lender called Monogram that works with banks and credit unions.

The credit card issuer said it's "cautiously optimistic" about its borrowers' financial health, with charge-offs expected to rise not much further than pre-pandemic levels. The upbeat outlook contrasts with a key competitor's guidance of significantly higher losses.

The Tennessee-based bank was forced to keep operating on its own after a proposed acquisition was called off. Months later, First Horizon has picked up new customers and improved its profitability, but investors remain cautious amid plans for catch-up spending on technology.

Investors drove up the stock prices of both companies after Ally Financial said it's selling its point-of-sale lending business to Synchrony Financial. The deal is expected to help Ally focus on its bread-and-butter auto lending business, while also aiding Synchrony's efforts to gain market share.

Industry Bancshares' bond portfolio is massively underwater, and one of its regulators says the company is in "troubled condition." But Industry says it was already working on fixes prior to the OCC's intervention, which it calls an "unfortunate example of regulatory overreach."

The Wall Street giant did a lot of backtracking last year, abandoning its plans to become a bank for everyone. Now it's refocusing on growing its tried-and-true businesses of dealmaking and asset management.

The San Francisco-based bank warned for months that charge-offs were likely to start rising as some office-related loans went bad. It began to happen in the fourth quarter, which could be an omen for regional banks that have larger concentrations in the office sector.

The megabank will report a hit to its earnings this Friday from what one analyst called an "accounting nuisance." The charge, which BofA will make up over time, is due to the bank's use of a Bloomberg-developed interest rate index that gained little traction.

As the CEO of First Union Bank, Crutchfield struck more than 80 deals, riding the consolidation wave of the 1980s and 1990s. When he retired, First Union was the sixth largest bank in the country.

One of the smallest banks in the country hasn't consistently made a profit since 2007 and has been the subject of enforcement actions. The FDIC's public rebuke against it indicates a last-ditch effort to figure out a less messy solution than receivership.

Bank investors hope they can party like it's 1995, when the U.S. economy stayed healthy even after aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes. But a few analysts are a bit more cautious over whether banks' loan books will hold up as well this time.

Bank investor Kenneth Lehman and investment firm Castle Creek are providing the funds to the Virginia-based bank, whose fintech friendly strategy has gotten it in trouble with regulators. The bank's stock has sunk 70% this year.

Corporations and trial lawyers have long fought over whether consumers should be forced into arbitration to resolve their complaints. Now there's a new wrinkle: It's becoming harder for aggrieved customers to even get to arbitration.

The vote by workers in a New Mexico branch is the first union victory at a megabank in decades, though unionization efforts at another Wells branch took a step back.