A nonprosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Manhattan allows the bank to avoid criminal charges. Its former senior-ranking equities executive Pawan Passi has entered into a deferred-prosecution agreement over his handling of confidential information. 

Tech company Circle files for an IPO; Amazon wants to extend its Just Walk Out technology to hospitals; Pacific Financial expands in suburban Oregon; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

In 2023, the four giant banks raked in $253 billion in NII , about $80 billion higher than 2021's total. Now, most banks see rate cuts coming, all while they have to pay more on deposits or risk losing customer savings to higher-yielding options. 

Douglas Timmerman, the company's president of dealer financial services, will step in when Jeffrey Brown departs at the end of January. Ally continues its hunt for a permanent CEO.

Ultimately, firmwide headcount will decline by 60,000 jobs to 180,000 by the end of 2026, Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason said.

The investigation into highly sensitive block trades — in which banks typically help clients buy or sell chunks of stock large enough to move prices — has focused in part on whether employees shared or misused information about impending transactions in ways that broke securities laws.

Surging interest rates, recession threats and weaker stock valuations bogged down merger-and-acquisition activity last year. The 98 announced deals fell short of even 2020, when the pandemic briefly brought the economy to a standstill.

Fraser and Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason are under pressure to show that, after repeated attempts by predecessors to restore investors' faith in the New York-based company following the 2008 global financial crisis, this time will be different.

Hudson Valley Credit Union, which has $6.9 billion of assets, is buying Catskill Hudson Bancorp, which has $593 million of assets — more than any bank acquired by a credit union last year.

Mike Weinbach, a former Wells Fargo and JPMorgan leader, will replace president Chris Marshall who's expected to retire at the end of this year.

Clark Street Capital said it developed a service to pair sellers with multiple potential buyers within just two weeks. It's meant to help small lenders close deals fast while still getting the benefits of a bidding process.

The top five banks and thrifts have nearly $96 billion in combined home equity loan portfolios as of September 30, 2023.

The company is poised to report quarterly earnings this week that are expected to reveal revenue growth at seven times the average pace of its peers.  

The majority of those affected are in support functions, reflecting the removal of management layers and improved technology and automation capabilities, the company says.

Banks need to mount an aggressive legal response to the onslaught of intrusive new rules being promulgated by their prudential regulators.

A bill before the state legislature would create a public infrastructure bank, where municipalities could go to finance projects from affordable housing to bridges.

As the CEO of First Union Bank, Crutchfield struck more than 80 deals, riding the consolidation wave of the 1980s and 1990s. When he retired, First Union was the sixth largest bank in the country.

Southern Bancorp in Little Rock, Arkansas, plans to put $250 million in equity capital it received from the Treasury Department to good use making mortgages and acquiring banks.

In the wake of the disgraced financier's downfall, executives at JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Deutsche Bank have continued to draw the ire of federal regulators and weather millions of dollars in fines and settlement costs.

Here are six luminaries who have won this American Banker award since 2010. Some continue to lead banks, while others have run into trouble.