JPMorgan's Ben Carpenter will join Evercore as a senior managing director; Wells Fargo appoints Jackie Krese to head syndications within its fund finance group; the SEC is probing Jefferies over its relationship to bankrupt auto parts supplier First Brands Group; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

In a sternly worded letter, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Maxine Waters demanded to know why federal agencies haven't provided more guidance since the one-cent coin was discontinued. They accused the Trump administration of making an "abrupt and unilateral decision" without thinking it through.

Royal Bank of Canada now expects to achieve an annual return on equity of at least 17% by 2027, executives said Wednesday, up one percentage point from the bank's earlier goal.

South Plains Financial agreed to pay $105.1 million in stock to acquire a seven-year-old Houston community bank in its first M&A foray since 2019.

Financial institutions see an opportunity to nab scale after years of tepid dealmaking, but investors are pushing back against such efforts out of concerns about shareholder value.

The Wisconsin-based regional bank plans to acquire American National Corp. in an all-stock transaction valued at $604 million. It is Associated's first acquisition announcement since Andy Harmening became CEO in 2021.

The two regional banks, which are combining in a merger of equals, had previously said they expected to complete the deal sometime in the first quarter of 2026.

The activist investor HoldCo Asset Management alleges that Comerica and Fifth Third used a "flawed" process to arrive at a $10.9 billion merger agreement. On Tuesday, a Delaware judge said she will hold a hearing to determine if the banks omitted material information in their public disclosures.

Saul Van Beurden, Wells Fargo's consumer banking CEO and former head of technology, will lead the way on harnessing artificial intelligence.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Fulton Financial said Monday it will pay $243 million in stock for Blue Foundry Bancorp, which has lost more than $20 million since converting to a public company in 2021.

Eight months after Green Dot embarked on a review of its strategic alternatives, the fintech said it will sell its banking operations to CommerceOne Financial and sell its fintech platform to Smith Ventures. Both buyers are linked to Alabama businessman Bill Smith.

HoldCo Asset Management alleged in a court filing that Comerica's directors and Chairman and CEO Curt Farmer breached their fiduciary duties to investors, in part because negotiations for the bank's sale to Fifth Third took just 17 days.

Chris Shelper is now the sole chief banking officer at First Interstate BancSystem; Kristy Fercho joins LERETA's board of directors; Truist Financial launches a business focused on private equity and family office transactions; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The Federal Reserve played a behind-the-scenes role in facilitating the sale of PacWest Bancorp, providing an enticement to private-equity interests to make a deal happen, according to agency records and recent comments by a prominent banking lawyer.

The $22.7 billion-asset company may be interested in buying certain banks that HoldCo Asset Management presses to sell in the future, Chairman and CEO John Allison said. Home is planning to announce its next acquisition in December.

The parent of Crosscountry Mortgage plans to use proceeds to pay down its mortgage-servicing rights line of credit as well as for general corporate expenses.

Profitable community banks based in Georgia and New Mexico have announced deals to sell themselves to credit unions this week, drawing the ire of banking advocates.

An activist investor is seeking more information on how, and when, the largest bank deal of 2025 came together.

The financial services firm based in Houston tried to buy a Chicago community bank three years ago as part of a plan to offer traditional banking and digital asset services on one platform. With Illinois state approval secured, it now awaits a decision from the Fed.

MetroCity Bankshares in Doraville, Georgia, plans to finalize its acquisition of First IC Corp; Rockefeller Capital Management's Brian D. Riley will join BNY Wealth as global head; Blackstone appoints former Morgan Stanley rainmaker Franck Petitgas to a top role in Europe; and more in this week's banking news roundup.