Finance

The San Carlos, California, consumer lender said it's "exploring strategic options" for its credit card portfolio, discontinuing its investment and retirement products and sunsetting a partnership with Sezzle in addition to embarking on a new round of job cuts.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency said in a long-awaited report that it will set up new guardrails for the Federal Home Loan Banks to ensure that the institutions are serving a housing-centric mission.

The Zurich-based bank posted a net loss of $785 million for the three months to September, its first quarterly loss in almost six years, as costs to absorb Credit Suisse came in at $2 billion. However, client inflows in its wealth management business — which included $3 billion of that was at Credit Suisse's wealth arm — exceeded expectations.

More banks are selling their underwater bond portfolios at a loss, crystallizing what were previously losses on paper only. Though the maneuver brings some short-term pain, the banks expect to make the money back over time.

Longtime customers of Capital One's online banking arm thought they were getting the best possible rate, according to a lawsuit. Little did they realize, they say, that they needed to open a new account in order to benefit from interest rate increases.

Many banks tapped the brakes on mergers and acquisitions this year amid economic and regulatory challenges. But executives at banks with a history of dealmaking say conditions could be right for them to return to buying mode next year.

Taking the reins again as chief executive of Block following the recent departure of CEO Alyssa Henry, Jack Dorsey has launched internal changes to jump-start growth, eliminate silos and promote the use of artificial intelligence.

Financing buyouts with "payment-in-kind" loans can preserve cash, but cost more; banks are losing out to private lenders on some of these deals.

Alex Chriss, the new chief executive, says the firm aims to reverse its stock slump by assessing its business to favor its best-performing products.

Citing the need to conserve capital, Blue Ridge Bankshares indefinitely extended a dividend suspension that it announced in July. The bank remains well-capitalized, but it saw its ratios shrink in the third quarter.

The island state's biggest banks — which reported lower profits in the third quarter — say it is too soon to fully assess the economic fallout from the deadly August wildfires. The rebuilding effort could boost near-term deposit growth and long-term loan demand, they said.

Charlie, a neobank marketed to people 62+, and Carefull, which partners with financial institutions, recently raised their Series A's. A third, called EverSafe, is embarking on its first fundraise.

The neobank is also benefiting from its product diversity.

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.

The credit card company has been seeing late payments and charge-offs jump following the stellar credit trends of the pandemic. But there were signs last quarter that the picture has started to stabilize.

Large language models were a big part of the discussion during the company's earnings call on Thursday.

Even though it is less than two years since it allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to accept such valuations, it is difficult to evaluate their effectiveness without such examinations.

Both loans and deposit balances have stabilized since the North Carolina bank acquired parts of the failed Silicon Valley Bank, paving the way for better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings guidance. The only blemish in the third quarter, one analyst said, was credit quality.

CEO Scott Sanborn said it's unclear when demand from banks to buy the fintech's loans will return.

The Hicksville, New York, company beat analysts' expectations on net interest income, but a pair of souring office loans contributed to a 68% increase in nonperforming loans from the prior quarter.