Retail & Commercial

JPMorgan Chase closed out the most profitable year in U.S. banking history with its seventh consecutive quarter of record net interest income and a surprise forecast that the windfall may continue this year. 

When big banks kick off earnings season on Friday, industry observers will be paying close attention to loan growth, deposit growth, expense growth, credit quality and capital ratios. All five areas will offer clues about the industry's trajectory in 2024.

The guidance also underscores consumer rights to obtain access to their own information as well as identities of sources providing data.

In a string of enforcement actions issued Thursday, the Federal Reserve barred one former banker from the industry for misappropriating confidential supervisory information and fined three others for misappropriating internal bank records.

Surging interest rates, recession threats and weaker stock valuations bogged down merger-and-acquisition activity last year. The 98 announced deals fell short of even 2020, when the pandemic briefly brought the economy to a standstill.

The Senate on Wednesday fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to override President Biden's veto in December of a Republican-led resolution to gut the small-business data collection rule using the Congressional Review Act.

For the past week, the benchmark 10-year Treasury closed above 4%, as the markets priced in an increase in the consumer price index.

The software company's latest product, a private debt marketplace, is designed to connect startups with trusted, pre-vetted lenders.

Royal Bank of Canada hopes to save money by moving positions from high-cost California to Vancouver. The Toronto-based company is looking to cut costs as it seeks to bolster the earnings of its Los Angeles-based City National Bank subsidiary.

The agency plans to restrict access to a system that provides borrower tax returns to mortgage lenders beginning June 30. Left out of the loop, small-business lenders say getting credit to borrowers will become more difficult as a result.