The speed of credit deterioration in Texas banks isn't as quick as KBW had expected -- after reviewing the latest call reports, the firm upgrades Cullen/Frost, Prosperity Bancshares, First Financial and Southside Bancshares to market perform. Non-performing loans for Texas banks remained flat at 1.22%. Signals remain mixed for the Texas economy, firm says, with positives from higher energy offset by rising unemployment in the state. However, the slow pace of credit deterioration will allow the banks more time to prepare for a weak economy with higher loan loss provisions and retained earnings, KBW says.
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Synovus Financial demonstrated at an industry conference how it is using Microsoft's Copilot to help its staff address customers' concerns.
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The U.S. arm of Spanish banking giant Santander has hired Swati Bhatia to oversee retail banking and its digital transformation efforts. Bhatia joins at "an inflection point" for the company, which aims to be "a digital bank with branches," CEO Tim Wennes said.
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Mariya Rosberg is named Americas head of banking and financial services at Marsh McLennan's Oliver Wyman unit; startup ZayZoon raised $15 million in a new funding round; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.
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Last year, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Integrated called off a deal to sell itself to MVB Financial after bank stocks took a hit in the aftermath of the regional bank failures. Capital hopes to expand its government-guaranteed lending with the transaction.
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Once a prominent figure spurring financial institutions to engage in cryptocurrency, Bankman-Fried's downslide began with the collapse of the digital asset exchange FTX in late 2022 and hit rock bottom with his sentencing to 25 years in prison.
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But the 30-year fixed rate mortgage is still near 7%, and that remains the overhang on the housing market, Freddie Mac said.
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