Finance

The parent company of Flagstar Bank surprised investors by slashing its dividend, charging off two large real-estate loans and preparing for more trouble in the office and multifamily sectors.

U.S. consumers remain healthy despite several factors that weigh on their spending, said CEO Michael Miebach.

The recent leadership turmoil at OpenAI underscored the importance of the due diligence banks must conduct before working with a generative artificial intelligence vendor.

Financial services companies are still in the early days of utilizing artificial intelligence, meaning they must closely examine any partnership with a third party. This includes demanding evidence to back up any performance claims these outside companies make.

Cullen/Frost in Texas, BankUnited in Florida and Bank OZK in Arkansas are among the banks that have, at least for now, allayed investors' fears about their exposure to the CRE sector.

Ten months after the Raleigh, North Carolina, company acquired a large chunk of Silicon Valley Bank, it says it is seeing good progress in keeping and winning back the latter's former customers. But the ongoing slowdown in private equity and venture capital activity will challenge the unit's growth.

The stable outlook is an indication that — at least for some lenders — the much-feared cycle of cardholders defaulting on their obligations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic may not turn out to be so bad.

The card network said that recent weeks' cold snap in key cities had a chilling effect on U.S. spending, and reaffirmed its sunny outlook for the year.

Steve Squeri said flatness in the segment is an industry-wide trend, and the company is dedicated to the segment.

The Los Angeles company has sold $6 billion of loans and securities since buying PacWest in November. CEO Jared Wolff said it might get smaller still as it strives to boost profitability.

Economic headwinds causing charge-offs and rising delinquencies — along with potential credit card late-fee restrictions — darken the company's 2024 forecast.

The private student loan market is in flux after one major lender, Discover Financial Services, said it's leaving the sector. Sallie Mae is gearing up to compete for that business, much as it did when Wells Fargo pulled up stakes in 2020.

Activity from the Bank Term Funding Program has spiked by roughly $50 billion since November, when its rate fell below the level where institutions could earn money by keeping reserves at the central bank.

The Bank Term Funding Program, established during last year's liquidity crunch, will stop issuing new loans on March 11. Until then, banks can still borrow from the facility, though at less favorable terms.

The Oklahoma-based regional bank expects 6%-7% loan growth in the year ahead. Executives are also projecting that net interest income will start to improve after the metric hits a trough early this year.

After California was hit hard by the banking crisis of 2023, tens of thousands of commercial and consumer customers turned to East West, helping the company achieve record full-year revenue, its CEO says.

Banks and Congressmen alike see U.S. regulators' version of Basel III as overly stringent for the securitization market.

The credit card issuer said it's "cautiously optimistic" about its borrowers' financial health, with charge-offs expected to rise not much further than pre-pandemic levels. The upbeat outlook contrasts with a key competitor's guidance of significantly higher losses.

The Salt Lake City bank says that it doesn't expect major losses, even though its problem loans grew at the end of 2023.

The Tennessee-based bank was forced to keep operating on its own after a proposed acquisition was called off. Months later, First Horizon has picked up new customers and improved its profitability, but investors remain cautious amid plans for catch-up spending on technology.