Banking

Facing a lawsuit from a disgruntled investor, the Arkansas company has released additional information about how it arrived at the $919 million price it’s paying for Happy Bancshares.

Bank of America is hiring thousands of employees this quarter and investing heavily in talent and technology headed into the new year, CEO Brian Moynihan says.

Brent Huisman routinely solicited and received handouts from auto auction companies, the Federal Reserve said in an enforcement action that bans him from the banking industry. The gifts included Super Bowl tickets and luxury hotel stays, according to a lawsuit that Huisman eventually paid $275,000 to settle.

The combined institution would have more than $280 million of assets and serve close to 20,000 members.

The company says that marketing its deposit products could help build deeper customer relationships, particularly with student loan borrowers. “We're not just a credit card issuer,” CEO Roger Hochschild told analysts.

The $85 million acquisition of Metro Phoenix Bank would more than double Alerus Financial’s loans and deposits in the nation’s fifth-largest city.

With prices increasing faster than they have since the 1990s, the Federal Reserve appears poised to tighten monetary policy. Top industry executives are worried about the chances of either a recession or runaway inflation, depending on whether the central bank moves too quickly or too slowly.

Goldman Sachs, which already runs Apple Card and part of its consumer banking operation on AWS’s cloud, will now host market data there for hedge funds and other institutional clients.

Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu identified eight practices that he described as pro-consumer. While some banks have already acted on many of the reforms, they are by no means standard across the industry.

The card network's new cryptocurrency advisory service aims to help financial institutions catch up with companies like Square and PayPal by spotting opportunities to support stablecoins, nonfungible tokens and central bank digital currencies.

The proceeds will support Silvergate’s network that facilitates cryptocurrency transactions and a leveraged lending product that provides loans collateralized by bitcoin.

Current regulations barring out-of-state banks from siphoning deposits from local communities are effectively toothless, as the experience in Miami has shown.

Purchases by adults between the ages of 25 and 40 have risen 50% over 2019, and the same group accounts for 75% of sign-ups for American Express’s pricier new cards.

The economic tremors caused by the COVID-19 crisis led some analysts to argue that it was only a matter of time before some financial institutions collapsed. But thanks to government stimulus, the industry’s ample capital levels and moderate risk exposure, bank closings have become a rarity.

Business lines south of the border, led by a diversified commercial banking unit, contributed more than 40% of total earnings at Bank of Montreal over the past 12 months. Company executives now see an opportunity in selling wealth management services to commercial clients.

The deal for Summit Financial furthers First Financial’s strategy of acquiring national niche business lines.

Business and regulatory pressures were already weighing on aging executives before the onset of the pandemic led many to delay retirement plans. Now as the crisis eases, an increasing number are finally stepping down.

Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, pledged to make it easier for state attorneys general to draw on the Consumer Financial Protection Act in filing lawsuits against corporate wrongdoers.

CEO Jane Fraser said the bank isn’t a fan of the idea of simply asking clients to dispose of any so-called brown assets, which would just shift the problem to a new owner.

Bankers say the Biden administration’s call for regulatory greater scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions is causing holdups and could slow dealmaking activity in 2022.