CEO Curtis Farmer tried to assure skeptics Tuesday that the Dallas-based bank is focused on shareholder value and profitability, even as an activist investor group prepares to launch a board fight.

The Dallas-based bank is the subject of a scathing new report by HoldCo Asset Management, which says it should take advantage of current market conditions to sell itself. The investment firm accused Comerica's management of making poor decisions and failing to address its lagging stock price.

The Dallas-based lender, which reported a year-over-year decline in earnings, is anticipating increased loan activity and deposit growth later in the year.

Comerica and U.S. Bank are applying new tools that attempt to take the worry out of real-time transactions made on behalf of third parties. Comerica payments exec Allysun Fleming spoke about the bank's plans.

The Dallas-based regional bank doesn't plan to halt in-progress investments, but it may adjust the pace of spending this year, depending on which way the economy goes. It also made downward revisions to its outlook for average loans, net interest income, fee income and expenses.

The Dallas-based company expects average loan growth to be flat to up 1% from 2024, driven by the ongoing payoffs of commercial real estate loans, executives said.

The Dallas-based bank has a growing list of legal and regulatory issues — some of them connected to its role in a U.S. government benefits program, and others not.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has asked a Texas court to halt Comerica Bank's practices.

The Dallas-based bank is accusing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of "pursuing an aggressive and overreaching investigation" into its role in a Treasury Department prepaid card program.

Under McKinney, Comerica's retail bank generated $965 million in revenue and 20% revenue growth in 2023. She leads 2,580 employees in the retail bank, which has $27 billion in loans and deposits. 

Crespi joined Comerica in 2020 as chief technology and operations officer with the goal of leading the Dallas-based bank's embrace of a more-digital future.

Shares in the Dallas bank fell sharply after it disclosed that it expects to lose its contract for the Direct Express program, which would wipe out more than $3 billion in non-interest bearing deposits. Comerica's involvement with the Treasury Department's prepaid card program has been marred by controversy.

An agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will require Dallas-based Comerica Bank to institute a list of corrective actions regarding a range of compliance issues, including wealth management, third-party risk and financial accounting.

The two regional banks are anticipating that borrower demand will increase in the back half of the year. High interest rates and economic uncertainty have been muting the appetite for borrowing.

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.

West Plains Bank and Trust in Missouri, No. 11 on this year's Best Banks to Work For ranking, wins high marks for constructive training, employee development, team culture — as well as excellent benefits.

Bankers should stop thinking of small companies as difficult to serve, Comerica's Brian Haney says; "How does succeeding in small business make the retail bank stronger?"