Banking

A combination of higher interest rates and increased vacancies — especially in office buildings — are leading to more apprehensions in commercial real estate.

The company has long been criticized for its lagging financial performance and its complexity. CEO Jane Fraser is pushing through Citigroup's most recent transformation plan, but will she succeed where her predecessors have failed?

The Long Island bank is trying to come back from a month-long spiral that sunk its stock price some 80%.

The $12.1 billion-asset DCU launched the loan platform in 2022, and has seen volume jump by close to $600 million from when talks began in 2019 to last year.

First Busey closes acquisition of Merchants and Manufacturers Bank; Stax co-founders launch a new credit-scoring tool; UMB's marketing chief takes on consumer banking; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

Based on the pace of deals through late March, the banking industry is on track for the most branch sales since 2021. Buyer interest has mounted alongside the need to acquire deposits, following hits to funding bases last year.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tapped executive compensation and cannabis banking bills as bipartisan priorities that could see movement in the Senate in the "weeks and months ahead."

In an increasingly cashless society, having a basic bank account ought to be an inalienable right. Instead, we have a system that deliberately prevents millions of Americans from making even the simplest transactions.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Martin Gruenberg said the agency would prioritize urging banks to invest in underserved communities as part of a revised economic inclusion plan unveiled Thursday.

The Tupelo, Mississippi, company announced a management simplification plan in which several executives, including the president and the chief financial officer, are gaining new responsibilities. Most of the changes took effect April 1.

The decision to approve the fintech's application to make 7(a) loans came nearly a month after Funding Circle's U.K.-based CEO hinted it is considering a sale of its U.S. operations, alarming some members of Congress.

The federal agency's director said Wednesday that regulators were working to refocus bank merger evaluations on community impact.

A year ago, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition accused KeyBank of redlining. On Wednesday, the NCRC and Key announced a $25 million "agreement" that NCRC CEO Jesse Van Tol says could open the door to a new community benefits plan.

Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, sued Citigroup and argued it should be liable for fraud cases involving consumer wire transfers. But Citi said the AG's view would bring about a "sea change in banking law."

The $171 billion-asset Navy Federal Credit Union began operating roughly 60 locations and more than 270 ATMs as part of the Overseas Military Banking Program this month. The contract was awarded in September of last year, but faced federal deposit insurance challenges and industry pushback from credit unions and banks alike.

Banking regulators and the Department of Justice must decide whether the blockbuster deal raises antitrust concerns. Looming over their analyses are questions about how broadly or narrowly to define the relevant markets.

With high deposit and borrowing costs persisting amid the Federal Reserve's campaign against inflation, lenders face stress on their net interest margins and the potential of troubled loans ticking up.

Houston-based Prosperity Bancshares said it closed its purchase of Lone Star State Bancshares about a year later than initially planned.