Auto lending

B of A is normally thought of as a U.S. economic bellwether, but it has substantial operations overseas, and its international performance last quarter provided a painful reminder of that fact.

The world knows JPMorgan's quarterly profits fell and that it flunked the living wills test. But underneath all that were solid first-quarter results in its core lending businesses that bode well for other banks at the start of earnings season.

The deal to buy TradeKing would allow the online-only bank to offer wealth-building products to its roughly 1.1 million depositors. The additional low-cost deposits could also help fund loan growth as it looks to expand beyond auto lending and into mortgages and credit cards.

GOP lawmakers and witnesses at a Senate Banking Committee hearing pointedly criticized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday, setting the stage for a likely contentious hearing with the agency's director later in the week.

Ally Financial announced Tuesday that it had agreed to buy the online brokerage firm TradeKing Group for approximately $275 million. TradeKing, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has roughly $4.5 billion in client assets.

The Dallas-based subprime consumer lender backed off controversial changes to its method for calculating its quarterly provisions for loan losses, forcing it to revise earnings downward for the last two years. It also announced that it had found more accounting issues.

Competition is spurring subprime auto lenders to stretch their underwriting guidelines for new customers, raising fears of another bust. In February, 5.16% of securitized subprime auto loans were at least 60 days past due, according to Fitch Ratings. That slightly exceeded the level of late payments at the height of the Great Recession. Here's a guide to who's doing what in the market, courtesy of our colleagues at Asset Securitization Report.

Credit unions have a dominant auto lending presence in the West, boasting as much as a 50% market share in some areas. Credit Union Journal explores what is driving that dominance.

The subprime consumer lender currently rejects many of its personal loan applicants. It hopes to qualify more borrowers by offering cash to those who are willing to put their cars up as collateral.

California Republic Bancorp, which has been aggressively originating and securitizing auto loans for years, is keen on revving up the engine to expand from a 10-state area to a national platform.