John Watt, 65, will step down in May after more than seven years as president and CEO of NBT Bancorp in Norwich, New York. The plethora of internal candidates to succeed him made the decision a no-brainer, Watt says.

The Oklahoma-based regional bank expects 6%-7% loan growth in the year ahead. Executives are also projecting that net interest income will start to improve after the metric hits a trough early this year.

After California was hit hard by the banking crisis of 2023, tens of thousands of commercial and consumer customers turned to East West, helping the company achieve record full-year revenue, its CEO says.

Hood, who was first appointed to the National Credit Union Administration in 2005, explained what drove his focus on financial inclusion and the technology that promises to make it possible.

Charging a nonsufficient funds fee on a debit, ATM or peer-to-peer payment that gets declined immediately would be considered "abusive" under a proposed rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Banks and Congressmen alike see U.S. regulators' version of Basel III as overly stringent for the securitization market.