Finance

When big banks kick off earnings season on Friday, industry observers will be paying close attention to loan growth, deposit growth, expense growth, credit quality and capital ratios. All five areas will offer clues about the industry's trajectory in 2024.

Surging interest rates, recession threats and weaker stock valuations bogged down merger-and-acquisition activity last year. The 98 announced deals fell short of even 2020, when the pandemic briefly brought the economy to a standstill.

The card networks are expanding their development of accelerators for women and minority-owned businesses, improving these entrepreneurs' access to venture capital.

The megabank will report a hit to its earnings this Friday from what one analyst called an "accounting nuisance." The charge, which BofA will make up over time, is due to the bank's use of a Bloomberg-developed interest rate index that gained little traction.

The company is poised to report quarterly earnings this week that are expected to reveal revenue growth at seven times the average pace of its peers.  

The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and former manager of the central bank's open market account said a slower approach to balance sheet reduction may be warranted sooner rather than later.

The majority of those affected are in support functions, reflecting the removal of management layers and improved technology and automation capabilities, the company says.

The KBW Bank Index posted a strong gain after a government report showed employers added 216,000 jobs in December. The labor market strength bodes well for lenders' credit quality but may delay highly anticipated interest rate cuts that would lower banks' funding costs.

Federal Reserve officials point to overnight reverse repurchase agreement activity as an indication of excess liquidity, which the central bank is working to reduce. But some analysts say that excess liquidity may be drying up faster than expected, with important implications for banks.

Bank investors hope they can party like it's 1995, when the U.S. economy stayed healthy even after aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes. But a few analysts are a bit more cautious over whether banks' loan books will hold up as well this time.

The fintech revolution has been more successful at working with banks than at trying to replace them, points out Gene Ludwig, former Comptroller of the Currency, chair of the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, and co-founder of Canapi Ventures. Those with "must have" products will fare far better in 2024 than those with "nice to have" tools, he says.

The real estate investment trust — which counts the private equity firm C-III Capital Partners among its top shareholders — owes more than $100 million to creditors but has less than $50 million of assets, according to a Chapter 11 petition.

Citizens' SVP and director of mortgage secondary and capital markets reflects on what her experience with past cycles suggests about where this one may be headed.

After a year marred by the biggest US bank failures since the 2008 financial crisis, the nation's largest lender is on familiar footing — scooping up a rival, reeling in its clients and minting record profits along the way.

Funding pressures moderated in recent months, but loan charge-offs climbed. With festering concerns about a vulnerable economy, the potential for elevated credits costs could loom large over the upcoming bank earnings season.

The Bank Term Funding Program, set up in response to this spring's run of bank failures, is poised to close down in March. With the Federal Reserve now forecasting rate cuts next year, the bar for renewing the facility's authorization could be a bit higher.

Led by veteran banker Stephen Gordon, Genesis Bank in Newport Beach, California, plans to use the funds pledged by private equity firms and other investors to roll up community banks in the Western U.S.

Remote work trends and high interest rates have substantially reduced the values of U.S. office buildings. A new academic paper estimates the extent of the deterioration, suggesting that there is perhaps more stress ahead for banks than is widely anticipated.

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.

Retail customers at large banks were a bit more satisfied this year than in 2022, a new J.D. Power study finds. However, more of those same customers are moving cash to — and seeking advice from — wealth management firms and online banks.