Polo Rocha is a Mexico-based freelance reporter who worked at American Banker from 2021 to early 2025, covering consumer finance and national banking trends. He previously covered the Federal Reserve at S&P Global Market Intelligence and state politics at WisPolitics.com. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has a master's in finance degree from Johns Hopkins University.
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Liberty Bank, an $11.6 million-asset lender in Salt Lake City, is the first FDIC-supervised bank in six years to be hit with the lowest Community Reinvestment Act rating possible twice in a row. Regulators identified an unspecified "illegal credit practice" during their review of the bank's performance.
By Polo RochaMay 4 -
Industry leaders hoped that the emergency sale of First Republic Bank would quell investors' fears, but many banks saw big stock price declines on Tuesday. The instability could put pressure on lawmakers and policymakers to take more decisive action.
By Polo RochaMay 2 -
An emergency deal for First Republic Bank will help boost JPMorgan's wealth management business. But company executives acknowledge that there are questions about how many of the failed bank's clients and wealth advisors it will be able to retain.
By Polo RochaMay 1 -
First Republic Bank was shuttered by regulators early Monday, and all its deposits and most of its assets were acquired by JPMorgan. San Francisco-based First Republic was undone by low-rate mortgages it made to its wealthy customers as well as by the fallout from last month's banking crisis.
By Polo RochaMay 1 -
The troubled lender could fail, get rescued by the nation's largest banks or muddle through as a zombie bank. Federal regulators and the big banks will have to decide which is the least bad option.
By Polo RochaApril 28 -
Some 77% of banks did not did not record significant deposit inflows or outflows following Silicon Valley Bank's failure, according to a survey of executives at 567 institutions. The findings highlight the stability of many smaller banks' deposit bases.
By Polo RochaApril 26 -
Banks with more than $100 billion of assets expect tougher regulations in the wake of last month's bank failures. They say that any changes to capital and liquidity standards should happen gradually in order to avoid spooking investors.
By Polo RochaApril 24 -
The San Francisco bank, on shaky ground after two regional peers failed last month, said that customers pulled more than 40% of their deposits last quarter. It's been forced to turn to more expensive sources of funding, which analysts said will squeeze its profitability.
By Polo RochaApril 24 -
The Cleveland-based regional bank said that its net interest income fell 10% — and profits declined by an even larger percentage — as it paid more to retain depositors. Still, CEO Chris Gorman said the company is "well prepared to handle the deposit challenges in front of the market."
By Polo RochaApril 20 -
Charles Schwab's underwater securities portfolio has prompted some analysts to lump it together with Silicon Valley Bank. CEO Walt Bettinger says those views are vastly mistaken.
By Polo RochaApril 17