Bank of Montreal plans to raise its minimum wage for U.S. branch and contact-center employees to $18 an hour as companies face heightened competition for workers in a tight labor market.

Unvaccinated employees also will face higher payroll deductions to cover the cost of testing and health insurance, starting next year, the bank said.

Despite BLM, #MeToo and other movements for equality and justice, employers don't understand enough about the impact of neglecting DEI on company health.

The company has already surpassed a five-year target announced in 2018, and set a new goal of hiring an additional 10,000 by 2025.

Employees at Beneficial State Bank secured banking's first labor union contract in 40 years and now are calling on Congress to pass legislation, drafted by House Democrats, to protect front-line workers across the industry.

The moves are part of a $30 billion pledge to advance racial equity that the megabank made following George Floyd's murder last year.

The proposal calls for a 20-year mortgage with Ginnie Mae and Treasury participation, but critics suggest that other measures would be more effective in bridging the gap in home equity.

Sandra Thompson, who has been acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency since June, has won backing from the mortgage industry and community groups for the experience she brings to the role. The push comes as the administration is said to be considering Mike Calhoun of the Center for Responsible Lending.

With tricked-out conference rooms, online career development tools and blocks of time for chitchat, Ally and Citizens are strengthening connections between colleagues during phased returns to the office.

The chair of the House Financial Services Committee endorsed acting Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson as rumors abound that the administration is considering someone else for the job.

The agency organized a vehicle seeded with $120 million from anchor investors — including Truist and Microsoft — enabling minority-owned banks and community development financial institutions to seek capital for development projects in underserved areas.

Credit unions expanded perks and benefits for workers whose personal lives and jobs were rocked by the pandemic. The added costs are bearable and will be necessary to keep employees over the long term, executives say.

The Chicago City Council approved a measure to boost transparency around the lending practices of the city’s banks and help address homeownership disparities in the nation’s third most-populous city.

In a recent securitization with Capital One, RBC Capital Markets gave a bigger role to small firms owned by minorities and women. It’s one example of how banks are striving to be more inclusive.

Some are taking extra measures, such as forming panels with minority representation to interview job candidates, to ensure that their recruitment practices don't exclude underrepresented groups.

King, who helped build BB&T into a regional powerhouse before engineering its merger with rival SunTrust, will retire as CEO of Truist on Sunday. In an interview, he spoke about the importance of cultural fit in M&A, his own legacy and what he wants to do next.

Hopes that the pandemic has been curbed have dimmed as infections and hospitalizations are on the rise again due to the introduction of the extremely dangerous Delta strain. For some companies, this has disrupted their plans to bring remote employees back to their offices or institute a "hybrid" arrangement.

The Dallas bank unveiled an initiative that involves doubling its client-facing headcount across the Lone Star State and expanding its investment banking division. But its stock price plunged amid concerns about how long it will take to deliver returns for investors.

“As the CEO of one of America’s largest banks, Richard Fairbank repeatedly broke the law,” the acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition said.

The company will now begin bringing back staffers who have been working remotely on Oct. 18, rather than Oct. 4, according to an internal memo Wednesday from Chief Operating Officer Scott Powell.