Banking

U.S. credit unions that serve Ukrainian immigrants are coordinating efforts to provide aid in Ukraine while bracing for cyberattacks at home.

A portion of Goldman Sachs Group’s Russia staff is relocating out of the country as firms react to a global effort to shut off the Russian economy after the invasion of Ukraine.

Five Star Bank, which is based in a rural part of New York state, has embraced digital lending, banking-as-a-service, real-time payments, bitcoin and more. “Those that don’t innovate don’t survive,” says Chief Administrative Officer Sean Willett.

The $7.6 billion deal was originally expected to close in the fourth quarter of last year, but the banks had pushed back their deadline until June. Once the merger is complete, the combined bank will have more than $200 billion in assets.

Empire Financial Federal Credit Union had been placed into conservatorship by the National Credit Union Administration in May because of “unsafe and unsound practices.” Another credit union has assumed its assets and deposits.

The deal with HBI Employees Credit Union follows two other mergers Spire struck last year that brought it to $1.9 billion of assets.

Here is a rundown of the regulatory, diversity, competitive and other challenges that executives explored at the Credit Union National Association's annual gathering in Washington.

Russia reverberations, a rebranding, a resignation and more in banking news this week.

The misclassification of certain cash flows in 2021 was a “material weakness,” according to a securities filing. Management restated the relevant financial statements and promised to lay out a “plan to remediate” the issue.

Credit unions and banks need to ask themselves if they're finding ways to say "yes" to consumers who too often hear "no" from mainstream institutions. Otherwise, they perpetuate a system that excludes the poor and people of color and drive them toward nonbanks, said Pablo DeFilippi of Inclusiv Network and other experts.

The Louisiana-based Barksdale has agreed to purchase HomeBank of Arkansas. It is the fourth deal involving the sale of a bank to a credit union in less than two weeks.

The Canadian banking giant cited labor shortages, rising inflation and the economic fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as reasons for keeping loan-loss allowances above pre-pandemic levels.

Tricia Szurgot is joining Securityplus from First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union in Pennsylvania.

The $837 million-asset Commerce State is one of the largest banks ever to agree to be sold to a credit union.

Citigroup said it’s helping some of its workers in Ukraine seek refuge in Poland and sending advances on pay to help them contend with the Russian invasion.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, which earlier this week announced a $13.4 billion acquisition to expand in the U.S., got a lift from loan growth at home.

At the bank’s investor day, CEO Jane Fraser and other top executives outlined where they are investing, how they are reorganizing and what it will all cost.

The credit union had been in the custody of the National Credit Union Administration since June 2020 to address concerns of unsafe and unsound business practices.

The $142 million deal would vault the buyer from the 21st-largest bank in Philadelphia to the 12th largest.

Most loans to mortuaries are backed by the Small Business Administration, so they are capped at $5 million. The Delaware lender is teaming with an industry insurer to offer much larger loans to funeral home owners seeking to acquire rivals or refinance operations.