Finance

Strong mortgage and capital markets activity helped offset credit costs and one-time items in the third quarter at Citizens Financial Group. In a period of low rates, CEO Bruce Van Saun says he’d like to buy more fee-generating businesses.

The family-owned bank from the South and the New York commercial lender each would fill a clear need for the other. First Citizens would gain business lending expertise and an online deposit-gathering platform, and CIT would get the cheap deposits it coveted.

The credit union regulator has held back in allowing the use of derivatives but has released a proposal that would remove red tape for some larger institutions.

The North Carolina company had promised regulators not to close large numbers of branches until December. Meanwhile, vendor contracts, leases and other hurdles have made it hard to accelerate efforts to offset a sudden decline in revenue.

The Illinois company will shutter 17 locations, or about 15% of its branches, early next year.

Defaults have been milder than expected thanks to government relief and stricter underwriting. But with the crisis dragging on and policymakers unable to agree on a stimulus plan, loans to highly indebted companies remain at risk.

CEO Charlie Scharf disappointed investors by failing to provide either a detailed road map for long-term expense reductions or say when he might release such a plan.

The New York bank, which is conducting a search for its next leader, also said it expects to report strong third-quarter earnings.

Spending is up and deferrals are down sharply, signaling that the economy has turned a corner, CEO Brian Moynihan said. The outlook stood in stark contrast to JPMorgan Chase, which set aside more funds to address potential exposure in consumer banking.

Regulators in the spring temporarily eased a key benchmark of balance-sheet strength to allow institutions to help customers navigate the pandemic, but Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Randal Quarles said it would be “premature” right now to suspend it for good.

The Minneapolis company says the majority of branches earmarked for closing have already been shuttered for months due to the pandemic. Some of the savings will be plowed back into digital expansion.

The Pittsburgh company has reservations about the business model and staying power of online-only banks.

Revenue at each of Goldman Sachs’s four divisions rose from a year earlier, pushing earnings per share to a record that was almost twice as high as analysts predicted.

The company posted a surprise increase in third-quarter expenses as it set aside almost $1 billion for customer remediation and $718 million in restructuring charges.

Third-quarter net income dropped nearly 16% from a year earlier as revenues at the company's consumer unit declined at about the same pace and trading revenue gains were below estimates.

CEO Michael Corbat and CFO Mark Mason dodged questions from analysts about how much time and money Citigroup expects to spend to address recent enforcement actions.

The San Francisco bank reported record loan originations thanks to explosive growth in single-family home loans, and profits beat analysts' expectations.

The banking giant may be sitting pretty with plenty of money reserved for bad loans — or it could have to set aside billions more in coming quarters. It hinges on an ongoing U.S. recovery and the passage of a new stimulus package.

The California-based institution joins a small group of CUs that represent only about 7% of institutions but hold about 70% of industry assets.

On Jun. 30, 2020. Dollars in thousands.