When local prosecutors in Los Angeles investigated fake accounts at the San Francisco bank, they were hampered by a provision of state law that prevented them from issuing subpoenas before filing suit. That problem has been remedied under legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In this month's roundup of American Banker's favorite stories: Home appraisers get disillusioned, a couple lives mortgage-free for 13 years, digging into the cracks in credit quality, quantum computing's future in banking, and more.

JPMorgan Chase is starting to phase out an offering far more associated with old-fashioned bank branches than today's smartphone apps: safe deposit boxes. 

The company said a national search ended in its backyard with the hiring of Wisconsin veteran banker Tim Schneider, the former CEO and co-founder of Investors Community Bank.

The report, which examined trends between 2010 and 2021, found that the country's biggest banks only opened 638 branches in low-to-moderate-income communities made up primarily of people of color. That accounts for just 15% of their total branch openings.

The partners aim to lend $150 million in the next three years to sellers from "socially and economically distressed communities."

Nearly nine out of 10 bankers surveyed by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors ranked the specter of rising deposit costs and narrowing margins as their top concern.

The claim that these arrangements are unregulated is inaccurate, and instead, more oversight would destroy the benefits of banks working with fintechs on consumer products.

The Alabama bank must pay $191 million in connection with charges it levied on customers whose account balances went negative before a transaction was posted. Seven years ago, the CFPB imposed a $7.5 million overdraft-related fine on Regions.

Leaders who set clear expectations do not create hostile settings. If anything, good people are motivated knowing what they do is noticed and matters.

JPMorgan Chase's U.K. digital lender has attracted 1 million customers in its first year of operation, making it one of the U.K.'s most popular neobanks.

Investors are looking past the current boom in loan activity, fearing that inflation and other factors will cool demand and make it harder for borrowers to make payments.

The same day Provident Financial Services announced it had agreed to buy Lakeland for $1.3 billion, the seller disclosed an ongoing fair-lending investigation by the Justice Department. Provident said it has "not heard anything" that would give it pause.

Citigroup appointed Grant Carson to manage its operations in Russia as a stand-alone entity as the U.S. bank reduces its business in the country following President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

The all-stock acquisition of Lakeland Bancorp, expected to close in the second quarter of 2023, would create a combined bank with more than $25 billion of assets.

A deluge of password resets in 2021 led the bank to rethink its digital banking authentication process.

Most Americans are more indebted than ever, underscoring a persistent and widening wealth divide in the U.S.

Following an outcry, the Philadelphia company said its chairman and CEO, Harry Madonna — who would receive a $1 million windfall if the bank is sold — won't be part of the strategic review committee set up to evaluate any bids.

The Bank of England's stress tests are meant to provide an unlikely "tail risk" scenario designed to test the resilience of British lenders. The current U.K. market turmoil means this year's scenario is looking increasingly plausible.

Vermont State Employees Credit Union is attracting new cannabis clients so rapidly that it had to press the pause button to add staff. Another New England lender, Needham Bank, is building its own pot banking business through acquisition.