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Daily edition for December 20, 2021

The year's biggest storylines included an M&A revival, a reexamination of overdraft fees, a changing of the guard in Washington and the rise of new technologies. Here's a look back.

The central bank also signed off on Webster Financial’s acquisition of Sterling Bancorp and WSFS Financial’s purchase of Bryn Mawr Bank Corp. The moves come amid a political fight over the bank merger approval process.

Just three months ago, U.S. banks were still using the expiring benchmark rate for the vast majority of their new loans. But regulators said Friday the transition to alternative rates has accelerated ahead of a year-end cutoff.

Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter praised Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra “for his leadership" on bank merger issues. Chopra and two other Democratic board members at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are locked in a battle with Chair Jelena McWilliams over the agency’s own merger policy.

PNC, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citi have all introduced automated projections for commercial clients in recent months. Fintechs that cater to small businesses had pioneered the niche.

David S. Sprague, who has led Hanscom FCU since 1996, will become a member of the credit union’s board of directors after stepping down as chief executive.

Tonia Niedzialkowski will succeed longtime CEO Bernie McLaughlin, who is set to retire in late January.

The social network, now called Meta Platforms, is buying the South Dakota bank's name for $60 million.

Technology that Biz2Credit used to help certified public accountants obtain Paycheck Protection Program loans for their clients is being updated to offer term loans to small-business owners.

The Alabama bank is buying Clearsight Advisors to add to its booming capital markets division.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which has responded effectively to many external crises, has no playbook for addressing this internal battle on its own.

JPMorgan Chase executives were supposed to make sure employee communications were archived for regulatory scrutiny. But for years, even the bosses were using their mobile phones to tap out work-related messages — a practice so pervasive that U.S. authorities dropped the hammer Friday, imposing $200 million in fines.

The Financial Conduct Authority has fined a U.K. unit of HSBC Holdings 64 million pounds ($85 million) after finding “serious weaknesses” in the automated processes it used to monitor suspicious transactions, the latest example of the watchdog’s increasingly assertive stance against the firms it regulates.

Daily edition for December 17, 2021

The Arkansas bank is working with 10 universities' athletic departments to create programs for women it hopes will one day join its ranks.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released draft “supervisory principles” for banks with more than $100 billion of assets, saying they should account for weather-related risks. Officials said public feedback on the guidelines will help inform more detailed interagency policy next year.

The National Credit Union Administration set a lower target for business trips and additional staffing amid concerns stemming from the ongoing impact of the pandemic.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal and Zip to provide information about the potential risks their products pose.

The Canadian lender has held initial talks about an acquisition of BNP Paribas’s Bank of the West unit, according to people familiar with the matter. Bank of the West had a book value of about $13.7 billion on Sept. 30, according to FDIC data.