Financial institutions

The Cleveland company is more than doubling an earlier commitment in order to support racial equity and environmental sustainability.

Harmening, set to take the helm of Associated Banc-Corp next month, is being asked to replicate the digital transformation he led at Huntington Bancshares. His career path is a signal to the industry’s rising stars that the road to the corner office includes hands-on technology work.

Nonbanks had worried the end of the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility would hurt their ability to lend to small businesses. On Monday, the Federal Reserve announced the facility would be extended for three months.

The backing from the Emergency Capital Investment Fund is meant to help financial institutions direct aid to lower-income communities struggling in the pandemic.

In remarks during CUNA’s online Governmental Affairs Conference, Vice Chairman Kyle Hauptman and board member Rodney Hood bemoaned the lengthy process necessary for launching a new credit union.

Brian Milton, who ran MUFG Union's digital bank, was named head of banking and would become CEO of Thrivent Bank, which plans to have a digitally focused platform and operate as an industrial loan company.

The payment processing company will offer loans and deposit accounts to its small-business customers through a Utah-based industrial bank.

The Alabama company is instead on the hunt for nonbank acquisition candidates as well as employees or clients it could lure away from regional banks that have announced merger deals recently, John Turner says.

The Fortune 500 conglomerate has had discussions about merging Thrivent Credit Union, which operates independently of the company, into the bank if the charter is approved.

Brex currently relies on bank partners to offer credit cards and cash management accounts to small and midsize businesses. It is looking to charter its own FDIC-insured institution to be a direct provider.

Community development financial institutions would reach even more underserved households and business if they had strong relationships with tech firms and national banks. Here's how the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency can foster such partnerships.

Year to date Sep. 30, 2020. Dollars in thousands.

On Sep. 30, 2020. Dollars in thousands.

On Sep. 30, 2020. Dollars in thousands.

In a book that was decades in the making, retired law professor Art Wilmarth tells the story of the Glass-Steagall Act — its origins, demise and aftermath. He also makes a case for restoring the separation between banks and securities firms, arguing that erecting such a barrier would reduce systemic risk and weaken the big banks’ political power.

Transportation and clean-energy upgrades could create significant new lending opportunities, but some observers fear the government will foot the bill through a special tax on banks and other financial firms.

The trust bank and the credit card company said they'll make it easier for customers to use cryptocurrencies. The announcements contributed to another jump in the price of the largest digital asset.

Harris Simmons of Zions Bancorp. warned that excess deposits could suppress loan demand and pose an inflation threat, while Darren King of M&T tried to reassure investors that deposits will be less volatile than some fear once the economy improves.

Ken LaRoe, whose First Green Bancorp was sold a few years ago, is seeking approval for a de novo called Climate First Bank that would cater to low-income communities hurt by climate change and favor ecology-minded tech vendors.

Harris Simmons, the chairman and CEO of Zions Bancorp., updated investors Wednesday on his cancer diagnosis, saying a CAT scan last week did not detect the rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with which he was diagnosed in November.