Deposits

The movement of cash to money market funds from bank accounts will diminish lenders' ability to finance small and midsize firms, BlackRock Investment Institute said in a new paper. BlackRock and other money managers have spent much of this year readying to fill that void.

The Westlake, Texas, firm said deposits fell 28% to $284.4 billion in the third quarter from the year prior, beating the $268.8 billion average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Net interest income rose sharply at Wells Fargo and especially JPMorgan Chase last quarter, thanks to lighter-than-expected deposit costs. But questions linger about how long both companies can keep a lid on those expenses and whether smaller competitors can do the same.

Jeffrey Brown, who's been Ally Financial's top executive for nearly nine years, plans to leave the company by early next year. His exit comes as deteriorating credit quality and rising interest rates are biting into Ally's profits.

The biggest laggard among the US banking giants, BofA's investments earn less than its closest rivals, and the stock is the group's worst performer by far.

Following the end of a long moratorium for federal student loan borrowers, monthly payments are expected to total $18 billion. Much of that money will come from checking and savings accounts, which will put more pressure on banks' deposit bases.

An increase in U.S. commercial banks' borrowings suggests they're uncomfortable losing any more reserves as depositors seek better returns elsewhere, according to Citigroup analysts.

Greg Carmichael, the former CEO of Fifth Third, will join the Los Angeles bank as its executive chair. The move comes a few weeks after City National, which is a unit of Royal Bank of Canada, reported a quarterly loss.

Brokered deposits had nothing to do with this year's bank failures, and regulators shouldn't pretend otherwise.