Disaster recovery

The utility, under financial pressure following its involvement in the 2023 fires that ravaged Maui, reportedly is considering a sale of its profitable American Savings Banking unit. An executive declined to "speculate on any strategic transactions or alternatives."

The island state's biggest banks — which reported lower profits in the third quarter — say it is too soon to fully assess the economic fallout from the deadly August wildfires. The rebuilding effort could boost near-term deposit growth and long-term loan demand, they said.

Merrimack Valley Credit Union is launching a disaster relief loan, William Daley will retire from Wells Fargo, New York Community Bancorp promotes Signorille-Browne to COO and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

Financial institutions in several Southeastern states had braced for impact of the Category 3 hurricane. Bank and credit union executives in Florida and Georgia say their facilities generally weathered the storm but that some communities they serve face substantial recovery efforts.

Market professionals and day traders are rattled and waiting for the exchange to elaborate on what it publicly called a "manual error" involving its "disaster recovery configuration."

Roughly 40,000 residents of Moore County have been left without power since Saturday, when gunfire damaged two substations. Financial institutions are urging residents to use online banking and call centers if they do not have access to a branch.

Regions and PNC are two banks that have expanded the use of their mobile branches in recent years.

Financial institutions of all sizes — from JPMorgan Chase to SouthState to Fairwinds Credit Union — have reopened many branches, rolled out mobile banking units as well as reemployed pandemic-era digital and loan-forgiveness strategies in parts of Florida and South Carolina devastated by the powerful hurricane.

With the island still feeling the effects of Hurricane Maria five years earlier, organizations like the Inclusiv Network and the National Credit Union Foundation are providing support to institutions and residents starting to rebuild.

Five days after the storm, Puerto Rico's largest bank is operating more than 90% of its branches, even though almost 60% of households are without power. Diesel-powered generators are a key reason why.

FNB Bank in the hard-hit community of Mayfield lost its headquarters during the catastrophic storms. It and other financial institutions are aiding local residents who are now taking stock of the damage.

In the wake of Hurricane Ida, the latest storm to batter the Gulf Coast, John Hairston is grappling with the consequences of a warming planet. He suggests that it's imperative for banks and their regulators to be part of the solution.

From delivering water door to door to turning offices into shelters, bankers in the state have adapted their hurricane-response plans to offer customers and employees relief from the past week's snow emergency and power outages.

A severe cold snap in the state has tested financial institutions unaccustomed to such weather-related disruption.

For decades lawmakers have ignored broad structural flaws in the National Flood Insurance Program, which underpins millions of home mortgages. And the problem is only getting worse.

From natural disasters to pandemics, the best business-continuity strategy may simply be to ensure you have a strategy.

James Smith, who recently completed his gradual transition out of banking, was spearheading a public-private economic development plan for Connecticut when the coronavirus pandemic hit. The crisis made the need for the plan greater — and the job harder.

Coronavirus has taken bankers out of their comfort zone. But they should view adaptations they’ve made in confronting the pandemic as a chance to hone their emergency response skills, not a permanent new normal.

Many banks are offering low-interest loans to help consumers and small businesses withstand the economic shocks of the pandemic. Some are also doing away with ATM, overdraft and late fees because, as one CEO put it, that revenue “is not the most important thing right now.”

The credit union regulator's Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion is making grants of up to $7,500 available to low-income designated institutions.