Banking

The industry has a key role to play as policymakers push to expand access to affordable financial services for all Americans.

Bipartisan legislation introduced Monday would permit loans made as part of the COVID-19 relief effort not to count against limits on member business lending.

After hiring two Goldman executives, the retailer could be looking to partner with more banks or become one; the buy now-pay later company is now worth $31 billion and seeking acquisitions.

The payment processing company will offer loans and deposit accounts to its small-business customers through a Utah-based industrial bank.

The bank’s new holding company, Amalgamated Financial Group, is the first publicly traded financial services company to become a public benefit corporation. It says the legal designation will help officers and directors balance the interests of shareholders and the public.

The pandemic is likely to dominate the discussion during CUNA’s online Governmental Affairs Conference, but perennial issues such as the industry’s tax exemption will also be spotlighted.

Four former employees and several clients of Washington Federal Bank for Savings face charges of falsifying records to conceal the embezzlement of $31 million prior to the bank's December 2017 collapse.

Turnaround times on loans in the 504 program are stretching out for weeks as the Small Business Administration grapples with a spike in applications and responsibilities tied to the Paycheck Protection Program.

The Pensacola, Fla.-based credit union's newest chief executive has helmed two other CUs over the course of more than two decades in the industry.

On Dec. 31, 2020. Dollars in thousands.

Community Banks with the Largest C&I Loan Portfolios

Citigroup is one of the world's largest lenders to the fossil fuel industry, but CEO Jane Fraser vowed on Monday that the bank would achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions in its financing activities by 2050.

The Credit Union National Association’s Governmental Affairs Conference, normally the industry's biggest annual event, will be held this week in a virtual setting, a change that would have seemed unthinkable one year ago.

Omer Ismail was a key architect of Goldman Sachs's consumer efforts in recent years and David Stark inked the bank's partnership credit card partnership with Apple.

Citigroup restated fourth-quarter results after writing down a portion of a loan to Revlon it now owns after losing a court battle.

Jane Fraser, the first woman to head a U.S. mega bank, tries to refresh Citigroup; Omer Ismail, the head of its Marcus unit, will head the retail giant’s new fintech startup.

Community banks, which for years have relied heavily on commercial real estate lending, have been tightening underwriting standards, conducting more frequent loan reviews and stepping back from certain subsectors to minimize their credit exposure.

Already contending with stressed retail, hotel and restaurant loans, bankers are beginning to view office lending — historically a safe bet — as increasingly risky as companies of all types rethink their space needs.

Going green takes time, so lenders need to start revamping entire business relationships now, according to one sustainability-focused nonprofit. That process could include setting environmental goals for fossil-fuels companies and other customers that are conditions for continuing to finance them.

Rohit Chopra, President Biden’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has not minced words in calling out private companies for wrongdoing. He could get a grilling from Banking Committee Republicans and some opposition on the Senate floor.