Commercial banking

After a record-breaking year of reeling in business from failed banks and scared customers defecting from rivals, the largest U.S. bank expects it will keep getting larger.

The company spent $15.8 billion in the fourth quarter, down 2% from a year earlier, while analysts had estimated an 11% drop. Severance expenses and a special deposit insurance assessment contributed $3 billon to that total.

JPMorgan Chase closed out the most profitable year in U.S. banking history with its seventh consecutive quarter of record net interest income and a surprise forecast that the windfall may continue this year. 

When big banks kick off earnings season on Friday, industry observers will be paying close attention to loan growth, deposit growth, expense growth, credit quality and capital ratios. All five areas will offer clues about the industry's trajectory in 2024.

The software company's latest product, a private debt marketplace, is designed to connect startups with trusted, pre-vetted lenders.

Royal Bank of Canada hopes to save money by moving positions from high-cost California to Vancouver. The Toronto-based company is looking to cut costs as it seeks to bolster the earnings of its Los Angeles-based City National Bank subsidiary.

The top five banks and thrifts have nearly $96 billion in combined home equity loan portfolios as of September 30, 2023.

The megabank will report a hit to its earnings this Friday from what one analyst called an "accounting nuisance." The charge, which BofA will make up over time, is due to the bank's use of a Bloomberg-developed interest rate index that gained little traction.

The company is poised to report quarterly earnings this week that are expected to reveal revenue growth at seven times the average pace of its peers.  

As the CEO of First Union Bank, Crutchfield struck more than 80 deals, riding the consolidation wave of the 1980s and 1990s. When he retired, First Union was the sixth largest bank in the country.