Commercial banking

Jim Esposito, one of Goldman Sachs Group's most senior executives, is leaving after almost three decades with the firm.

Cullen/Frost in Texas, BankUnited in Florida and Bank OZK in Arkansas are among the banks that have, at least for now, allayed investors' fears about their exposure to the CRE sector.

Ten months after the Raleigh, North Carolina, company acquired a large chunk of Silicon Valley Bank, it says it is seeing good progress in keeping and winning back the latter's former customers. But the ongoing slowdown in private equity and venture capital activity will challenge the unit's growth.

Workers are eligible for the one-time cash grants if they earned a salary of less than $75,000 last year, and their total cash compensation was less than $85,000. The payments come amid a unionization push at the San Francisco-based megabank.

The Los Angeles company has sold $6 billion of loans and securities since buying PacWest in November. CEO Jared Wolff said it might get smaller still as it strives to boost profitability.

Several of the company's top leaders, including Jennifer Piepszak, have been given new duties in CEO Jamie Dimon's latest management reorganization. Piepszak and JPMorgan President Daniel Pinto are among those viewed as potential successors to long-serving Dimon.

Williams, who died this week at age 90, was CEO of SunTrust — one of the banks that would become Truist — for many years. He also served on the boards of several organizations in Atlanta, including Coca-Cola.

The Oklahoma-based regional bank expects 6%-7% loan growth in the year ahead. Executives are also projecting that net interest income will start to improve after the metric hits a trough early this year.

After California was hit hard by the banking crisis of 2023, tens of thousands of commercial and consumer customers turned to East West, helping the company achieve record full-year revenue, its CEO says.

The next few years will mark the transition of sustainable finance in Latin America through its adolescence and towards maturity.

The Salt Lake City bank says that it doesn't expect major losses, even though its problem loans grew at the end of 2023.

Several regional banks have projected minimal growth or even a decline in lending this year. But Connecticut-based Webster is bullish based on its pipeline of nonoffice commercial real estate, public finance and other credits, CEO John Ciulla says.

The top five banks and thrifts have combined total assets of nearly $13 trillion as of September 30, 2023.

The Columbus, Ohio-based bank expects to hike expenses by about 4.5% this year as it ramps up investments in geographic areas and specialty banking verticals where it sees growth opportunities.

The Alabama bank's executives said commercial borrowers remain cautious amid high rates and economic uncertainty. During the fourth quarter, flat lending and higher deposit costs weighed down the company's net interest income.

The top five banks and thrifts have a combined first mortgage loan volume of more than $1 trillion.

The Cleveland-based regional bank was not well positioned for the sharp rise in interest rates last year. But executives say the year ahead will be different, pointing to strong credit quality and a repricing of Key's securities portfolio.

The Dallas bank's full-year results showed progress toward its long-term strategic goals despite a fourth-quarter drop-off in net interest income heavily tied to its mortgage business, executives said on an earnings call.

Despite a surge in quarterly expenses in the fourth quarter and a projected uptick in the first quarter, the North Carolina company is standing by its expense guidance for 2024.