Retail & Commercial

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.

A national interest rate cap of 36% would protect consumers from predatory practices that exploit their desperation and would level the playing field with responsible lenders who offer fair and transparent products.

Young adults exiting the foster care system often lack the documents and relationships they need to engage with financial products early on. Some advocates, including many in the Texas Legislature, are working to change that.

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.