PNC

The new acting chief of one of Washington’s major banking regulators has agreed to stay away from issues involving dozens of former legal clients, including 14 banks that the agency oversees, according to his ethics agreement.

Whether it is the Chase Sapphire Reserve metal card, the American Express Clear Card or a PNC card with an orange core, the message is the same — design is a big part of making a top-of-wallet card.

Fees from capital markets activities have propelled profits at several regional banks when they needed it —and just as the Glass-Steagall redux crowd wants to kill that business.

Earnings season kicked off with some banks capitalizing better than others on higher rates and still-low deposit costs. Banks will have to keep working on that balance as they contend with rising credit card losses, slower commercial lending and other issues.

Net income climbed 13% as as the Fed's hike improved loan yields and the stock market’s surge boosted returns from PNC’s stake in BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.

At a time when customers are rapidly switching to digital banking, scores of branches are closing. But many institutions — mindful that brick-and-mortar locations remain a critical sales channel — are also experimenting with physical layouts that are focused on technology and generally smaller than traditional branches. In some cases, they have even done away with employees. Here is a look at some of the designs that banks have built as they seek to fuse the physical with the digital.

Regional banks don’t pose risks to the financial system that have caused concern among policymakers, executives of 18 banks told top Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Congress.

In an newly created role, Deborah Guild, the bank’s current chief technology officer, will lead a revamped security unit.

PNC will add an extra $300 million to its stock buyback program, taking advantage of a little-known Fed rule.

With home values — and interest rates — rising, homeowners finally seem ready to tap into their homes' equity to fund long-delayed home-improvement projects.