Expense management

Steuben Trust received two bites from potential MOE partners, but the New York bank’s lightly traded stock and many other challenges forced a sale to a much larger rival instead.

House and Senate lawmakers have denied a push by banking groups to grant banks the rent-free access to military installations that credit unions have.

While layoffs at big banks get the headlines, small and midsize lenders are also trimming payrolls in response to lower rates and fears that a recession is getting closer.

Executives are deciding what roles could be relocated to lower-cost hubs such as Plano, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and Wilmington, Del.

Perhaps the biggest test that Charles Scharf will face when he starts next week will be how to control expenses while still trying to make the necessary investments in risk management to satisfy regulators.

The institution also remained well capitalized and its membership rose in the first half of the year.

A new study suggests banks have the ability to operate leaner than ever before. That could fuel investor demands for more cost cutting and drive more banks to pursue M&A.

Pockets of job growth — in technology and compliance as well as from branch openings in new cities — are offsetting some of the dramatic cuts elsewhere at the world’s largest lenders.

Earnings at the Cincinnati company fell 25% from the same period last year, largely due to $109 million in expenses tied to its March acquisition of MB Financial.

While executives at the Buffalo, N.Y., bank said they would take a closer look at spending, especially given the potential for interest rate cuts, they described investments in tech talent as an essential cost of doing business.