Corporate governance

The San Antonio bank reported a 14% increase in noninterest expenses and a 7% jump in loans. "We're not trying to be successful by shrinking," said CEO Phil Green.

Pick, 54, a co-president and three-decade veteran of the firm, will be elevated to the top role in January and join the board, the bank said. Gorman, 65, will stay on as executive chairman.

The Dallas company, which is in the midst of a four-year business overhaul, is facing a margin squeeze in the coming quarters. But even as analysts express skepticism, company executives aren't budging from the profitability goals they set two years ago.

"We'll be taking steps to offset expense pressures," CEO Curtis Farmer told analysts after the company reported an 11% year-over-year jump in costs and falling profits.

Six weeks after unveiling a broad restructuring plan, the North Carolina bank said it has already taken several steps to lower expenses, and that various cost-reduction initiatives are on parallel paths.

The two megabanks continue to shrink their branch networks, with BofA planning to close 20 locations and Wells recently shuttering 15. Both banks are also opening new branches in certain markets.

Executives of the $405 billion-asset bank say that they have completed 40% of a cost-cutting strategy begun earlier this year.

Jane Fraser defended Citigroup's recently announced organizational overhaul and specific performance targets, saying the plan is different from prior restructurings because it's designed to fundamentally change how the company operates.

The Pittsburgh-based regional bank expects to save $325 million next year as it reduces its staff by 4%. Executives said the cuts are necessary because revenue has fallen amid a surge in interest rates and a decline in loan volumes.

The consulting giant's annual global banking review highlights a stark trend: Over a seven-year period, more than 70% of the net increase in financial assets ended up not on U.S. banks' balance sheets, but instead at insurance and pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, in private capital markets and elsewhere.

Tradeshift Holdings has dismissed its co-founder Christian Lanng due to "serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment" and "gross misconduct on multiple grounds," the company says. Lanng denies the allegations.

Activist investor Abbott Cooper, who has been locked in a battle with management at AmeriServ Financial for more than a year, plans to nominate former Amalgamated Financial head Keith Mestrich in a bid to end the impasse.

The North Carolina company is cutting its board of directors by more than a third, using a combination of retirements and early departures. The move means that a majority of board members will come from the predecessor company SunTrust Banks, which may give CEO Bill Rogers more leeway to make changes.

The former employee is accused of shuffling information to two friends.

A proposed settlement between the Philadelphia-based community bank and an activist investor group that has waged a nearly two-year battle for control also calls for overhauling the board of directors.

Peoples Financial Services has agreed to pay $129 million of stock for FNCB Bancorp. Peoples' CEO Craig Best would lead the combined company for a year after the merger closes, and then Gerard Champi, FNCB's current chief, would take over.

Thomas Nides, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and longtime Morgan Stanley executive, will take over the megabank's public affairs division as its work to fix regulatory concerns continues. He succeeds Bill Daley, the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama, who recently announced his retirement from Wells.

Cboe Global Markets says Edward Tilly has resigned following an investigation that determined he didn't disclose personal relationships with colleagues. The derivatives and securities exchange has appointed Fredric Tomczyk, a current member of Cboe's board of directors, to replace Tilly. 

As part of the changes, the Spanish bank is combining individual countries' retail and commercial banking businesses under a new global unit, which will be headed by Daniel Barriuso, and creating a new digital consumer bank area that will be led by Jose Luis de Mora.

Instead, the Canadian bank will try to ramp up its current strategy, which includes growth in commercial lending and technology upgrades, as well as streamline management.