Retail & Commercial

Wells Fargo makes a $1.5 million investment in Black entrepreneurship; America Express promotes small businesses through augmented reality; shareholders approve the Banc of California-PacWest merger; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

Dream Chasers upped its bid for Carver, one of the nation's largest and highest-profile Black banks, by a quarter, to $3.25 per share, dismissing the growth strategy interim CEO Craig MacKay outlined in a recent shareholder letter.

Even if the 30-year fixed were to slip further to 6.4%, it is not enough to end the seller's strike, economists said.

Some proposed changes to uniform mortgage-backed securities, apartment loans and derivatives will be made while one involving credit reports and scores was pulled.

OneMain Financial, which mainly offers consumer installment loans, is paying $115 million to buy a small subprime auto lender from the investment bank Jefferies.

Mago, who was fourth on American Banker's Most Powerful Women to Watch list this year, succeeds Brian Fishel, who is retiring.

Shifting from earlier plans, the FDIC has established a special committee to investigate allegations of harassment and a toxic workplace culture at the agency. It will be led by directors Jonathan McKernan and Michael Hsu and may include as many as three nonvoting members from outside the agency.

Bankers are hopeful that several factors could strengthen profits next year, including higher loan demand and more stable funding costs as the Fed holds the line on — or even lowers — interest rates.

Only 65.8% of surveyed households said they would be able to come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose within the next month, according to the NY Fed's latest survey of consumer expectations and credit access,

Unions have historically had little success organizing bank employees, but recent high-profile gains for the labor movement have fueled hopes that will change. The two elections at Wells Fargo will be a test.