Retail & Commercial

Financial firms claim a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would restrict lending, raise borrowing costs and result in more denials of credit to consumers.

The pressures and frustrations of daily work lose some of their ability to aggravate when you consider how much real choice you have in the matter.

The big China deals that lined rainmakers' pockets for decades have evaporated. Banks and law firms alike are cutting jobs. Those advisers that remain are chasing smaller deals and taking extended vacations.

The BSBY interest rate benchmark was originally envisioned as a successor to the once-ubiquitous Libor rate. But it failed to gain much traction, and Bloomberg now plans to shut it down next year.

The Champaign, Illinois-based company said it would pay $41.6 million to acquire Merchants and Manufacturers Bank Corp., which has five branches in the Greater Chicago area.

Stress tests suggest systemically important depositories could weather current risks. Meanwhile, single-family arrears remain low, but that business could be impacted.

Purchases by banks, airlines, industrial heavyweights and other businesses fell for the first time last year, according to Bloomberg Green's analysis of data in three public registries covering more than 260,000 transactions since 2010. Yet corporate buyers increased purchases of offsets derived from a particularly controversial source — wind, hydro and solar projects.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group's Chief Executive Officer Jun Ohta, who pursued an aggressive expansion abroad during his four years at the helm of Japan's second-largest bank, has died. He was 65. 

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has been a prolific acquirer, purchasing the insurance brokerages from multiple banks over the last year. Its management has indicated it has another $3.5 billion that it can use for more deals.

Capping interest rates may be popular with consumers, and ultimately voters, but doing so would actually hurt those advocates are trying to help.