Finance

Two days after the Fed released the results of its annual stress tests, the nation's eight largest banks all announced plans to supplement their payouts to shareholders. At the same time, most of the banks also said that their capital requirements are expected to rise.

The best-performing larger Main Street Banks, those in the $2 billion to $10 billion asset class, were asset sensitive, a position that worked to their advantage as rates continued to climb in 2023.

Publicly traded companies are showing signs of improvement, but it may take some time until venture capital funding for fintechs recovers.

Due to retirement, burnout, heightened regulatory standards and profitability challenges, lots of lenders are looking for new chief financial officers. The wave of departures is giving banks a chance to bring in more highly skilled finance chiefs.

Investors homed in on the benefits of positive economic data for lenders, rather than the possibility of a strong job market delaying interest rate cuts that would help to lower deposit costs and boost credit demand.

Though hard times put a dent in profitability, asset quality and net interest margin continued to shine among the list of the best performing publicly traded community banks.

The beleaguered Los Angeles-based bank reported its strongest quarterly results in more than a year, but executives at its Canadian parent company cautioned that improvements may not be linear.

The Toronto-based company's U.S. banking segment continues to face headwinds from muted loan growth and higher deposit pricing. Net income for the division tumbled by more than 25% last quarter.

Executives at the Toronto-based bank said last year that they planned to add 150 branches in the United States. But when pressed on Thursday, they could not say how much they'll scale back their ambitions due to investigations over TD's anti-money laundering practices.

Irvine-based CBC Bancorp's $121 million deal for Bay Community Bancorp in Oakland stands out at a time when high rates have put a damper on both the number of deals taking place and the multiples sellers are paying.

The Federal Housing Administration also instituted a new language preference requirement that servicers must observe in transfers.

Criminals breached a third-party database storing Santander customer and employee information, a type of intrusion that banks are increasingly facing.

The announcement, made at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Secondary and Capital Markets Conference, underscores Ginnie Mae's role at the forefront of digitization efforts in the capital markets space.

Investors are facing recent pressure after Republic First's collapse, allegations of criminal activity by an executive at Old National and a pending CFPB rule affecting credit card fees.

Bank stocks are up this year as interest rates have leveled off and there are hopes that pressure on lenders' profits could moderate.

The combination of two Pacific Northwest banks was supposed to create a regional powerhouse, but rising deposit costs have stung. CEO Clint Stein says he's "laser-focused" on making Columbia a top performer again.

Tighter merchant connections between Square and Cash App helped Block produce stronger-than-expected results during the first quarter, while Jack Dorsey said the firm will launch its first remittance product later this year leveraging decentralized finance.

Nearly 15 years ago, Les Lieberman and other organizers of Porticoes Capital used a shelf charter to buy a spate of failed banks. Now they're hoping to replay the strategy.

What's the point of regulatory capital rules that ignore demonstrated problems, like unrealized losses? We need to rethink what banks' disclose to investors and regulators.