Growth strategies

The New York-based bank says it will push its concentration of commercial real estate loans below 400% of risk-based capital over the next two years and focus more on C&I.

New York Community Bancorp took a massive loan-loss provision and slashed its dividend to meet tougher capital and liquidity requirements after rocketing by that asset mark. A half dozen regionals face tough questions about whether they're better prepared than NYCB, which had to be rescued.

Banks are proceeding with caution as a new generation of AI tools arises.

After focusing on cost control throughout much of 2023, including a round of job cuts, the Pittsburgh company has announced plans to expand in high-growth markets like Texas and refurbish more than 1,200 existing offices.

The Providence, Rhode Island, company has recruited a head of wealth management advisors and a head of private wealth managers as part of a new strategy to reel in high-net worth clients.

A day after the regional bank's stock tumbled on tough fourth-quarter results and some austerity moves, observers debated whether management just needs time to build enough capital to catch up with growth or if it is still too overexposed in multifamily lending.

The private student loan market is in flux after one major lender, Discover Financial Services, said it's leaving the sector. Sallie Mae is gearing up to compete for that business, much as it did when Wells Fargo pulled up stakes in 2020.

The Columbus, Ohio-based bank expects to hike expenses by about 4.5% this year as it ramps up investments in geographic areas and specialty banking verticals where it sees growth opportunities.

Jane Fraser says this year will be "critical" for the megabank, which is engaged in a massive, multiyear restructuring that involves cutting 20,000 jobs by the end of 2026.

A new Cerulli report suggests that one of banks' best opportunities to grow in the coming years is right under their nose, with a client segment they often ignore.

If banks reached the same market penetration among U.S. customers of Latin American descent that they have among white Americans, they could tap an additional $155 billion in annual revenue, according to new research from the consulting giant McKinsey.

Once the pace of private equity-backed sales of middle-market companies picks up, the Rhode Island-based bank expects to benefit. CEO Bruce Van Saun says that Citizens' recent expansions in private banking and wealth management will provide opportunities to cross-sell to corporate clients.

The Ohio-based regional bank has laid out an ambitious expansion blueprint, including new health care asset-based lending, a Native American financial services unit and a push into commercial banking in North Carolina and South Carolina.

The nation's largest bank has already completed many of the branch closings that can boost its earnings, leaving it with "less and less accretive opportunities to consolidate," according to a top executive.

Bank failures last spring forced many startup businesses to shift where they store their cash. JPMorgan Chase appears to be the top beneficiary, but other banks say they are just as eager to reel in deposits and do more business with the innovation economy.

The deal for SimplyBank, scheduled to be completed in the second quarter, would give First Financial in Terre Haute, Indiana, additional branches in Tennessee and its first presence in Georgia.

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 Dallas company, which is in the midst of a four-year business overhaul, is facing a margin squeeze in the coming quarters. But even as analysts express skepticism, company executives aren't budging from the profitability goals they set two years ago.

The consulting giant's annual global banking review highlights a stark trend: Over a seven-year period, more than 70% of the net increase in financial assets ended up not on U.S. banks' balance sheets, but instead at insurance and pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, in private capital markets and elsewhere.

Peoples Financial Services has agreed to pay $129 million of stock for FNCB Bancorp. Peoples' CEO Craig Best would lead the combined company for a year after the merger closes, and then Gerard Champi, FNCB's current chief, would take over.