The $7.6 billion deal was originally expected to close in the fourth quarter of last year, but the banks had pushed back their deadline until June. Once the merger is complete, the combined bank will have more than $200 billion in assets.

Empire Financial Federal Credit Union had been placed into conservatorship by the National Credit Union Administration in May because of “unsafe and unsound practices.” Another credit union has assumed its assets and deposits.

The deal with HBI Employees Credit Union follows two other mergers Spire struck last year that brought it to $1.9 billion of assets.

The hacker group is threatening to publish personal data from multiple U.S. financial institutions and using known vulnerabilities to get into their systems.

The misclassification of certain cash flows in 2021 was a “material weakness,” according to a securities filing. Management restated the relevant financial statements and promised to lay out a “plan to remediate” the issue.

Credit unions and banks need to ask themselves if they're finding ways to say "yes" to consumers who too often hear "no" from mainstream institutions. Otherwise, they perpetuate a system that excludes the poor and people of color and drive them toward nonbanks, said Pablo DeFilippi of Inclusiv Network and other experts.