Financial institutions

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is rescinding two rules issued under former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra that required nonbanks to register court orders, plus terms and conditions of contracts.

In an environment of persistent economic unease, banks have a unique opportunity to help small businesses, Sekou Kaalund, U.S. Bank's head of branch and small business banking, said at American Banker's 2025 Small Business Banking conference.

The Arkansas-based company spent nearly four years on the M&A sidelines, grappling with asset quality issues and litigation tied to its 2022 acquisition of Texas-based Happy State Bank. Now it's signed a letter of intent to buy an unnamed bank.

The Richmond, Virginia-based bank expects to build 10 branches in Raleigh and Wilmington, North Carolina, over the next three years. M&A is on the back burner as the company also works to capitalize on its recent acquisition of Sandy Spring Bank in Maryland, CEO John Asbury said.

A cohort of more than 100 Republican members of Congress sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging the administration to protect and fund a community lending program that has been gutted despite its legal mandate and Bessent's backing.

The president of the planned Georgia Skyline Bank says he's cautiously optimistic that his group can raise $35 million of startup capital in time for an opening early next year.

Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is urging the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. not to approve new Industrial Loan Company charters until Congress passes a law subjecting ILCs to bank holding company rules.

Six trade groups warned the administration layoffs and funding freezes could dampen lending, threatening the administration's goal of economic growth.

The Bank of New York Mellon had 117 different AI solutions in production at the end of September, Chairman and CEO Robin Vince said. That's up 75% from the second quarter.

Treasury laid off all of its Community Development Financial Institution Fund staff on Friday, with the reduction in force notices saying that the department plans on abolishing the fund.