The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance disclosed enforcement actions Wednesday against two banking companies in the state.
In written agreements both dated Nov. 12, the Atlanta Fed and state's banking commissioner ordered the $378 million-asset Southern Community Bancshares Inc. of Fayetteville and the $394 million-asset FirstBank Financial Services Inc. of McDonough to stop paying dividends to investors without prior approval from regulators.
The top five banks and thrifts have combined total assets of nearly $13 trillion.
The banking-as-a-service middleware provider will be acquired by TabaPay. Other middleware providers may be forced to evolve or face the same fate.
Institutions and their investors are facing pressure from climate activists, cautiously awaiting interest rate cuts and adjusting to new Federal Reserve and FDIC policies.
A new Citizens Bank survey suggests rising check-fraud incidents are driving middle-market companies to accelerate plans to fully adopt digital payments. But 70% of all businesses will continue to rely on checks for years to come, according to recent data from the Association for Financial Professionals.
After several quarters of slumping investment banking and trading fees, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company reported a big uptick from that division, which helped compensate for a large decline in net interest income.
The Federal Reserve's Office of the Inspector General says the Fed has yet to fulfill 65 recommendations, and also identified 18 outstanding issues at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
