Swiss banking giant UBS Group received federal approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to convert its $1.6 trillion-asset UBS Bank USA from a Utah-chartered industrial bank to a national charter.

Piermont Bank hired Dennis Day for a new executive role focused on payments; the American Bankers Association announced the global expansion of its widely used Fraud Contact Directory; MC Bankshares moved one step closer to finalizing its sale to an investor group; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Some of the country's largest financial institutions are rolling out stablecoins. With the right strategy, community and mid-tier banks can also reap the benefits of the new payment rail.

By welcoming AI-driven vendor platforms into their banks, small and midsize institutions are introducing risks that are poorly understood and potentially interrelated. Boards of directors need to start paying attention.

The Oklahoma community bank partnered with two digital asset companies to create a cross-border form of tokenized U.S. dollar deposits.

Grand Rapids-based Independent Bank Corp. has agreed to buy HCB Bancorp for $70.2 million — the buyer's first deal since 2017.

Jurors determined that Aaron Luneke, the former chief financial officer of Bank of the Valley in Nebraska, obtained millions of dollars in loans — including from his own bank — by inflating contractor bills for a new car wash business.

It won't be long before the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz begins to make itself felt across various aspects of banks' balance sheets. If it's protracted, a new oil shock will force a major reassessment of asset values.

The $8.2 billion-asset bank says it's nearly finished building a platform that will provide gaming operators with real-time payment capability.

Union Bank and Trust is resolving claims from a 2023 software exploit that exposed customer data to cybercriminals.

Three years after acquiring Bank of the West, BMO is preparing to open 130 branches in the Golden State, where it thinks it can achieve density and critical mass. The Toronto-based bank also plans to open 15 branches in Arizona.

Bank of America has reached a settlement in principle to resolve a class-action lawsuit filed by victims of Jeffrey Epstein.

More than a thousand years ago, merchants in imperial China revolutionized the concept of money by replacing metal coins with paper. A similarly transformative change — programmable money — is on the cusp of adoption today.

WesBanco in Wheeling, West Virginia, has hired a team of lenders in South Florida. It plans eventually to open branches in a bid to grab a share of the region's expanding deposit market.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and 12 of her peers alleged Monday that the personal installment lender surreptitiously adds costs for unwanted products. OneMain denied the claims.

The Alabama-based regional bank plans to open 135 to 150 branches over the next five years, while closing the same number. Regions' decision to accelerate its timeline by two years comes as large and regional banks try to capture more market share in the Southeast.

The most compelling innovation in banking today is not about flashy interfaces or speculative applications of technology, it is about strengthening core functions such as lending, payments, risk management and compliance.

The Federal Reserve's recently published request for information on options for updating its check clearing apparatus has bankers fearing that it will opt to phase out paper checks entirely — an outcome that has community banks panicked.

Billy Beale, who was hired to clean up Virginia-based Blue Ridge Bankshares after its failed foray with fintechs, has left the $2.4 billion-asset company. His successor is Harry Golliday, who was named interim CEO.

A new report from the Consumer Federation of America says the true cost of online scams is an estimated $119 billion per year; Associated Banc-Corp moves forward with its planned acquisition of family owned American National; Servbank HoldCo completes its acquisition of IF Bancorp; and more in this week's banking news roundup.