Financial institutions

After the tumult of buying PacWest Bancorp, Banc of California is not only profitable again but surpassing Wall Street's expectations.

The Columbus, Ohio-based bank's profit more than doubled in the fourth quarter from a year ago, with solid growth in loans and deposits.

The Pittsburgh-based company's fourth-quarter earnings increased more than 80% from the same period in 2023, beating analysts' expectations and leaving CEO Bill Demchak upbeat about 2025 prospects, though M&A likely remains off the table.

The chairman of the financial institutions panel of the House Financial Services Committee said his newly reintroduced bill has a considerable chance of passing with Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.

Mohit Ramani joins the Cleveland-based company next week. His predecessor, Darrin Benhart, will fill a newly created role as Key's chief regulatory officer.

Reading Cooperative's combination with Wakefield Cooperative, the third deal involving Boston-area banks announced in the past month, would create a $1.2 billion community bank.

The custody bank achieved its goal for the amount of deposits it placed into minority banks and community development financial institutions by the end of the year.

The Green Bay, Wisconsin-based bank will record a fourth-quarter loss after agreeing to sell $3 billion of low-yield loans and mortgages. The moves leave the bank well-positioned for 2025, CEO Andy Harmening said.

The Greenville, South Carolina-based company said it would pay $80 million in stock to acquire ANB Holdings and its Miami-area bank.

The Financial Stability Board plans to publish a consultation report next year suggesting how authorities could monitor vulnerabilities and use policy measures to address systemic risk from nonbank financial intermediaries' leverage.

The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a major element of the IRA, provides a critical opportunity for banks to integrate green finance into their core strategies.

Though still feeling the effects of margin compression, the Columbus, Ohio-based company reported solid growth in loans and fee income and is projecting record spread income next year.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's nonbank registry to address repeat corporate offenders goes live this week, but some experts have raised concerns about redundancy and costs for nonbanks.

The Pittsburgh-based company's earnings fell 4% in the third quarter from a year ago, although noninterest income climbed 11%.

River Run Bancorp near Boston said it would acquire Rollstone Bank and Trust, adding to a string of industry combinations as M&A activity gathers momentum in the second half of 2024.

Federal regulators have rewritten the rules for bank mergers in a way that will discourage the kinds of deals necessary to preserve healthy regional banks.

Only two de novo banks have opened in 2024, while more than 100 launched annually prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Experts don't agree on how to solve the problem.