Retail & Commercial

Citigroup agreed to sell its India retail banking business for about 123 billion rupees ($1.6 billion) cash to Axis Bank, as the U.S. lender seeks to consolidate its operations in identified markets.

The $168 million deal would mark the third acquisition of 2022 for Seacoast and continue a years-long effort to bulk up via M&A.

Climate activists have forced votes this spring on whether big banks should move more aggressively to cut off their financing of fossil-fuel companies.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is accusing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of pressuring Equifax, Experian and Transunion into removing most medical debt from credit reports, a move he says would compromise lenders' ability to gauge risk. Democrats, experts who testified at a hearing Tuesday and the CFPB pushed back.

The acquisitive Massachusetts company said it would pay $146.5 million to acquire Randolph and its $800 million-asset subsidiary, Envision Bank.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it expects credit card companies to increase fees — often around $30 — charged when customer miss a payment. The higher prices are allowed under rules that authorize inflation adjustments.

The pace of deal activity in 2022 is far lighter than it was a year earlier. "Going forward as an industry, we're going to be more selective because of the elongated approval process,” said Jim Ryan III, CEO of Old National Bancorp. Additionally, rising interest rates have led sellers to demand bigger payouts.

The chief executives at Bank of America, KeyCorp and Goldman Sachs are among those who were paid substantially more for 2021 performance than for the previous year, when the pandemic hurt profitability and other financial metrics.

The White House's $5.8 trillion spending proposal to Congress includes more dollars for anti-money-laundering enforcement, Small Business Administration loan guarantee programs and affordable housing financed by community development financial institutions.

Not all reforms are created equal. Only those truly taking a consumer-first approach — such as curtailing fees and allowing for grace periods — will see lasting benefits in customer loyalty, writes the acting comptroller of the currency.