Retail & Commercial

Progressives have been setting off alarm bells this week over the Senate’s bill to ease some Dodd-Frank rules, but the changes are more modest than many assume.

The company, which bought BNC Bancorp to enter North Carolina last year, recorded $19.1 million in merger-related expenses and an $8.3 million pretax loss tied to investment securities.

Cecere, 57, will succeed longtime executive Richard Davis, who has served as chairman since retiring as CEO last year.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday it will reopen the payday lending rule, on the same day the controversial rule technically went into effect.

The company agreed to buy First Priority Financial for $82 million in stock.

The activist investor, which has pressured the company in the past to find a buyer, fell short in an attempt last year to gain representation.

Kevin Fitzsimmons, who had recently covered banks for Hovde Group, will become FIG Partners' deputy director of research.

Though business owners are more optimistic about the direction of the economy since the tax law was passed, it's doubtful their borrowing will increase meaningfully until they see more signs of more robust growth, bankers say.

The New York bank has begun marketing Marcus loans as a way to pay for home improvements, while also raising the maximum loan size to $40,000.

Wealth management assets, deposits and fee income swelled at the San Francisco bank, but interest and noninterest costs rose along with them.