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Across the industry, the pace of branch shutdowns slowed this year. Still, large financial institutions continued to trim their physical footprints, with two super-regional banks taking the most aggressive actions.

The Connecticut bank agreed to pay $350 million to acquire Ametros Financial, a custodian and administrator of medical funds from insurance claim settlements. Some analysts see the deal as a signal that Webster does not plan to sell its health savings account business, which has been the subject of recent speculation.

Banks are perfectly willing to comply with a reasonable data collection standard. The problem is that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule makes demands far in excess of what the law requires.

The muni market finances the "fabric of our nation, and now, because of Citi's exit, the cost of financing for state and local governments is going to go up," a sell-side source said.

The changes include elevating several recently hired executives while eliminating nearly two dozen jobs and trimming annual operating expenses by $6 million.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signs a law banning medical debt on credit reports; PayPal's former CEO Dan Schulman will exit the board; community banks boost small-business loan approvals; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

The KBW Bank Index soared 9% over two days on the heels of the Wednesday afternoon meeting, its best such rally in nearly three years.

The roundup of top banking tech news for 2023: Ally Bank's path into the world of generative artificial intelligence, JPMorgan Chase's fallout from its deal with the college financial-planning website, banks across the U.S. increasingly fell victim to cyber attacks and more.

Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and John Kennedy, R-La., have reintroduced their ILC bill that would subject companies that hold an ILC charter to similar oversight as traditional banks, while measures to cap interest rates and ban 'trigger leads' have also been introduced.

Commercial-property sales have come under pressure over the past year as borrowing rates soared and values plummeted. Sellers and borrowers have often struggled to agree on pricing, given uncertainty around where values sit today.

A near-final framework released this week would increase capital requirements for England's largest banks by 3.2%, far less than the uptick proposed for U.S. and European banks.

While medical debt is not a problem created by the financial services industry, the industry has a critical role to play in addressing it.

Competition is heating up south of the U.S. border, prompting fintechs like Airwallex to come to market with a more diverse set of offerings — and to pursue acquisitions that help it move faster.

A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order against websites created by Storm-1152. That organization allegedly supplies fake Microsoft accounts to groups like Scattered Spider, whose targets include financial companies.

The Ohio Democrat is pressuring the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo to proactively provide financial benefits to active-duty service members. Those protections are enshrined in a 2003 law, but many service members do not seek them out.