Finance

Publicly traded companies are showing signs of improvement, but it may take some time until venture capital funding for fintechs recovers.

Due to retirement, burnout, heightened regulatory standards and profitability challenges, lots of lenders are looking for new chief financial officers. The wave of departures is giving banks a chance to bring in more highly skilled finance chiefs.

Investors homed in on the benefits of positive economic data for lenders, rather than the possibility of a strong job market delaying interest rate cuts that would help to lower deposit costs and boost credit demand.

Though hard times put a dent in profitability, asset quality and net interest margin continued to shine among the list of the best performing publicly traded community banks.

The beleaguered Los Angeles-based bank reported its strongest quarterly results in more than a year, but executives at its Canadian parent company cautioned that improvements may not be linear.

The Toronto-based company's U.S. banking segment continues to face headwinds from muted loan growth and higher deposit pricing. Net income for the division tumbled by more than 25% last quarter.

Executives at the Toronto-based bank said last year that they planned to add 150 branches in the United States. But when pressed on Thursday, they could not say how much they'll scale back their ambitions due to investigations over TD's anti-money laundering practices.

Irvine-based CBC Bancorp's $121 million deal for Bay Community Bancorp in Oakland stands out at a time when high rates have put a damper on both the number of deals taking place and the multiples sellers are paying.

The Federal Housing Administration also instituted a new language preference requirement that servicers must observe in transfers.