Growth strategies

Western Alliance, in its first appearance on the list of leading banks with more than $50 billion of assets, landed at No. 1. The Phoenix company and the other top performers in this class have either created niche businesses, made acquisitions or done both.

The San Francisco bank announced the hiring of a nine-member team led by Merrill Lynch veterans Harold Reinstein and Michael Nelson. First Republic reported 26.4% growth in wealth management revenue during the second quarter.

Bank of Nova Scotia's surprise pick of a CEO from outside its executive ranks is sparking a debate over whether major changes will result at Canada's third-largest lender.

These standout performers all reported a three-year return on average equity above 14%. Two of them topped 20%.

Citigroup is targeting India as one of its top markets to expand in globally as risks mount in China and other regions, the bank's global co-head of investment banking said.

Leading institutions with assets between $10 billion and $50 billion say growth strategies outside their traditional geographic bounds drove strong returns in 2021 and have steeled them for this year's challenges.

The company says it will streamline its United Kingdom operations to focus on private banking and wealth management to serve affluent clients in that market.

Credit Suisse Group denied it's considering exiting the U.S. market following a Reuters report that the Swiss bank was weighing such a withdrawal for its investment bank.

Citigroup is seeking 400 more staff for its Belfast office as it expands rapidly outside of London, according to a senior executive at the bank.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is making it very difficult for Citigroup to fetch a price even vaguely close to the $12.5 billion it paid for the bank two decades ago. 

Goldman Sachs Group is reconsidering how to launch a long-delayed product for the masses as senior executives wrestle with cost overruns.

Credit Suisse Group is shifting resources in the pursuit of business from a broader range of rich clients, as the lender focuses more on wealth management amid cuts to its troubled investment bank. 

More than 250 midsize and large companies that do business with BofA have signed up for its corporate employee banking and investing program, which pulls double duty as a retention tool for the companies and a customer-growth engine for the bank. The initiative is part of a wave of such offerings by regional and large banks.

Membership at the Virginia credit union has grown rapidly in recent years, including an 11% spurt in the first half of this year, thanks to a charter switch, heavy marketing spending and generous deposit rates.

Toronto-Dominion Bank agreed to buy the U.S. brokerage Cowen Inc. for $1.3 billion in cash, bulking up its presence in American capital markets just months after striking a historic deal to expand its retail operations in the country.

Citigroup is planning a 500-person hiring spree over the next three years for a new wealth division catering to junior employees at private equity offices, consultancies and accounting firms, betting those clients will someday join the ranks of the ultrawealthy. 

Citigroup is requiring some of its least-profitable trading clients to post more collateral and is even dropping some of them to help boost returns in its markets business.

A combination of higher organic loan growth and fee-based revenue streams powered top-performing banks in 2021.

The top 20 banks with assets of $2 billion to $10 billion outshined their peers in loan and revenue growth while maintaining pristine credit quality in 2021, according to a new ranking. Can they do the same this year as recession clouds gather?

State Bankshares in North Dakota was the top performer in the $2 billion to $10 billion asset class in 2021, according to Capital Performance Group. Strong commercial lending, a national mortgage business as well as regional wealth management and insurance units offer diverse sources of growth, a company executive says.