Four companies — Regions Financial, MUFG Americas Holdings and the U.S. arms of the Royal Bank of Canada, BMO Financial— felt they had something to prove to the Federal Reserve after being assigned higher capital buffers than most of their peers last year. Will their decisions pay off for shareholders?

Executives at Citizens Financial and Regions Financial said they plan to make policy changes that will reduce their reliance on the controversial but already dwindling charges.

The deal for the Salt Lake City-based home improvement lender, which Home Depot tried to acquire more than a decade ago, is part of a larger effort by Regions Financial to diversify its home lending business.

Nineteen of the nation's largest banks plus four smaller firms will be tested against baseline and severely adverse economic scenarios. The central bank will release details on their performance on June 24.

Garrison was promoted to head of human resources operations in October 2019, putting her at the forefront of the bank’s effort to respond to the pandemic.

CEO John Turner said green projects present a strong business opportunity for the Birmingham, Ala., company.

Caroline Taylor, who recently ran Small Business Administration lending at Capital One, aims to expand her team at Regions, help steer borrowers into economic recovery and reach out to women and minority small-business owners who have been underserved.

The Alabama company is instead on the hunt for nonbank acquisition candidates as well as employees or clients it could lure away from regional banks that have announced merger deals recently, John Turner says.

Comerica, Citizens Financial and other companies are buying up securities, paying off high-cost borrowing and trying to develop specialty lending niches. But loan growth remains weak, and the likelihood of extreme volatility in deposits makes it hard to plan ahead.

Deposits are soaring while loan demand lags and mortgage-backed securities offer weak returns. So the Alabama company has parked loads of cash at the Fed in hopes the economy will pick up steam before profit margins suffer.