Banking

Though bank analysts like Matthew Schultheis generally expect M&A activity to continue at a brisk pace for several years to come, stock market volatility could prove to be an issue for potential dealmakers in the near term. With a lower stock price, buyers may end up not being able to pay as much as sellers now expect, says Schultheis, who covers the financial services sector for Boenning & Scattergood. Here’s his outlook on bank M&A, including the number of deals he anticipates will happen this year and whether big banks might be among the buyers.

Kopernik Bank and Liberty Bank of Maryland, both mutual thrifts in Baltimore, have agreed to merge. No money would change hands given the mutual-ownership structures involved in the deal.

Moven, one of the most talked-about startups of the fintech boom, is looking to spread financial education to the self-employed.

Green Dot reported a larger fourth-quarter loss on higher employee compensation costs and said it will book an extra $11 million in expenses to roll out a new card product.

A day after Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray told financial industry executives that Congress did not intend to exempt small institutions from most rules, several lawmakers begged to differ.

The private-banking prowess of newly acquired City National was the steadying influence Royal Bank of Canada needed amid global and domestic economic shocks in its latest quarter.

Carolina Alliance Bank in Spartanburg, S.C., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund program.

Commercial bank clients are increasingly looking to replace physical corporate cards with virtual ones to streamline bookkeeping and limit risk. The adoption of such solutions is a good sign for mobile payments overall.

The precedent set in the ongoing battle between Apple and the FBI over custom access to a device in question opens up unsettling risks on privacy and security.

Well, something has to. For proponents of modernization and greater efficiency in the syndicated loan, bond, swaps, and private placement markets, it's well past time to put investors, banks, brokers and borrowers on the same technological page.

Sandhills State Bank in Bassett, Neb., has agreed to buy Bank of Keystone in Keystone, Neb.

Dublin, Ala., an unincorporated borough in Montgomery County, is reviewing whether to hire a collection agency to pursue nearly $100,000 in overdue water, sewer and trash accounts.

The Federal Trade Commission has charged a debt relief operation with falsely representing to financially distressed homeowners and student loan borrowers that it would help get their mortgages and student loans modified.

The online brokerage Robinhood Financial has eliminated its three-day waiting period for the use of funds deposited into an account.

The top leaders of the National Credit Union Administration said this week that they support an alternative option that would allow credit unions to merge some operations — a prospect that is alarming banking industry representatives.

Chase Pay is tied to the issuer's 94 million credit, debit and prepaid card accounts, representing half of U.S. households. Depending on the perspective, this means Chase's wallet either starts with — or excludes — half of the market.

More borrowers with spotty credit are failing to make monthly car payments on time, a troubling sign for investors who have snapped up billions of dollars of securities backed by risky auto debt.

WSFS Financial has been around nearly two centuries, and CEO Mark Turner is going for another two. Has he found the road map for success?

Instead of focusing on the effect of swipe fee rules on banks and credit unions, retailers should ask why the Durbin amendment hasn’t produced the promised cost savings for their consumers.

Midland States Bancorp in Effingham, Ill., has agreed to buy about $400 million in wealth management assets from Sterling Bancorp in Yonkers, N.Y.