Economy

Even as lockdowns ease, the trend toward remote work poses challenges for building owners and the banks that lend to them.

Nine of the 12 largest banking companies in the U.S. proposed higher quarterly payouts to shareholders. In announcing the actions, the banks touted their strength after more than a year of economic dislocation.

Dozens of digital tools are billed as democratizing finance. But a number of entrepreneurs still see massive gaps.

As banks pull back from energy lending, some of the world’s biggest hedge funds are rushing in to fill the gap in oil country.

The White House is working with state and local governments to distribute $46 billion in rental assistance and other programs over the next 30 days, aiming to prevent a flood of evictions when the federal eviction moratorium ends on July 31, administration officials said.

The Community Home Lenders Association has called for suspension of federal limits on the loan volumes that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase from individual lenders. The demand came on the same day that the Biden administration fired FHFA Director Mark Calabria and started the process of nominating his successor.

Thompson, who was most recently the deputy director of the FHFA’s Division of Housing and Mission Goals, replaces Mark Calabria, who was fired Wednesday afternoon.

President Biden removed Mark Calabria as Federal Housing Finance Agency director hours after a Supreme Court ruling made the move possible. The administration is expected to offer up a nominee who will prioritize affordable housing and racial equity in housing instead of reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The House Financial Services Committee passed a bill along party lines to require global systemically important banks to submit new annual reports on activities to the Fed.

The president will oust Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria, a Trump appointee, now that the high court says the chief executive can do so at will. It's "critical that the agency implement the administration’s housing policies," said a White House official.

How technology is enabling new types of payment transmission and what this means for banking.

The justices on Wednesday threw out a key part of a challenge brought by firms including Paulson & Co., Pershing Square Capital Management and Fairholme Funds ​to the government’s collection of more than $100 billion in profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Under federal health plans, categories like dental still have steep out-of-pocket costs, creating opportunities for companies like Sunbit and Ally Lending to provide options at the point of care.

A majority of the justices concluded that the law establishing the Federal Housing Finance Agency violated the Constitution when it said a president may only remove the agency's chief "for cause."

The fintech specializes in lending to dentists, veterinarians and other solo providers looking to grow or establish their own practice.

Sunwest Bank in Irvine, California, lets business customers open new checking accounts completely online, a technology challenge some large and regional financial institutions have yet to tackle.

In buying the $1.5 billion-asset County Bancorp, Nicolet would become the second-largest bank in Wisconsin and the state’s No. 1 dairy lender. It's the second bank acquisition deal Nicolet has announced this quarter.

Most credit unions don’t offer planning services, and affiliating with the No. 1 IBD could help CUNA Brokerage change that, the firm’s president says.

Cannabis, though still illegal at the federal level, continues to inch into the financial mainstream. Small credit unions and lenders as large as Valley National and East West have moved beyond just taking deposits from marijuana companies.

They may look different, but for opening accounts, serving small businesses and satisfying consumers' need for cash, branches remain essential.