Corporate governance

The Connecticut bank disclosed that Nasdaq waived a shareholder approval requirement so it could urgently raise more than $50 million. Patriot also said its finance chief would step down.

The Mississippi lender said regulators have signed off sooner than expected on its $103.6 million acquisition of First Chatham Bank. The bank's CEO and deal advisers said the speedy approval bodes well for future M&A.

Georges Elhedery aims to double down on HSBC's investment-banking operations in Asia and the Middle East after exiting key businesses in the U.S. and Europe.

The number of shareholder proposals appearing in banks' proxy statements is down significantly this year, due to Trump-era regulatory changes and new concerns about political blowback.

The Connecticut bank said its newly minted president, Steven Sugarman, successfully led a private placement and signed a long-term employment agreement that makes him a potential CEO. David Lowery, current chief executive of Patriot, plans to step down in April.

Federal Reserve policymakers said that the U.S. economy remains on sound footing, despite recent setbacks, and that two interest rate cuts lie ahead. Bank stocks advanced on hopes for loan growth and more M&A.

The Independent Community Bankers of America wants Congress to eliminate tax exemptions for credit unions with more than $1 billion of assets, scaling back an earlier request that would have targeted the entire credit union sector.

The U.S. arm of Spanish banking giant Banco Santander is offering a high-yield savings account through its digital bank, Openbank, to eligible Verizon customers, a move that will introduce Santander to millions of potential new customers.

Bankers' surveys of commercial clients have found that corporate decision-makers are less concerned about adverse tariff effects than nervous investors.

Disaster relief is capturing a large share of philanthropic giving from banks such as Truist Financial and Western Alliance Bank.