Retail & Commercial

The loan-growth projections are for Columbia Banking System itself, before the Tacoma, Washington, bank officially merges with Umpqua Holdings. The $5 billion deal is scheduled to close Feb. 28.

The company settled with the Federal Reserve after self-reporting that it had disbursed $1.1 million in wrongfully obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans.

The lending software and shared services provider was created by bankers for bankers.

Members of the American Bankers Association's Economic Advisory Committee expect gross domestic product to stall in 2023. Other surveys show a modest contraction. Lenders say sentiment among their borrowers also points to a slight slowdown.

Six Wall Street banks are being pressed by a group of shareholders to move faster on reducing their financing of fossil fuels to meet global climate goals.

The breaks for some lower-income borrowers are welcomed, but the use of debt-to-income as a differentiator could complicate originations at a challenging time, lenders say.

Unrelenting pressure to improve efficiency could keep bank merger activity steady or even accelerate it despite several economic and regulatory factors except for one — credit quality, say two veteran Piper Sandler dealmakers.

The Dallas-based company says noninterest expenses should grow by low double digits in 2023 now that the bulk of the investments related to its business transformation have been incurred.

The declining credit quality included more borrowers with higher credit scores falling behind on their credit card payments. But executives said the increase remains within expectations as it continues seeing "very linear normalization" in credit.

The custody giant benefited from rising interest rates, which helped offset choppy financial markets and a decline in fee income.