Americas

Banking groups that sued the state of Illinois over its law barring banks from charging interchange fees on taxes and tips cheered an appeals court ruling remanding the law to a lower court and vowed to keep the law going into effect, which is slated for July 1.

Opportunity favors the prepared, and Cambridge Savings Bank had been saving for years to buy a nearby rival. Now, as the mutual bank announces plans to acquire First Seacoast Bank, it says it's found "the right deal at the right time."

Carter Bankshares wants to widen its footprint in the Carolinas and may look to buy a bank, especially in South Carolina, where it set up a loan production office in November. The Virginia bank recently resolved a long-running dispute with a major commercial borrower.

The Iran war's disruptions have sent oil prices jumping, but drillers are far more disciplined than they were a decade ago.

San Diego County Credit Union won a court ruling that should help in its effort to get out of its deal to merge with a local competitor. A lawyer for SDCCU said he believes the judge's decision "signals the end of any merger between the two institutions."

New York extracted $5 million and a broker registration from Uphold over its promotion of CredEarn, a yield product whose issuer collapsed in 2020.

The San Antonio-based bank reported annual declines in net charge-offs and nonaccrual loans, extending a run of solid credit-quality trends at Texas-based regional banks.

The Beaver State measure gives de novo banks up to $1 million per year in tax credits. Oregon lawmakers modeled their legislation on a 5-year-old Ohio law.

James filed a pair of lawsuits against Coinbase and Gemini arguing that they violated New York's sports gambling laws.

Tether launches a wallet, Rain issues a crypto card and MoneyGram extends stablecoin services in El Salvador. That and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.