Regulators should approve the deal because post-merger, the servicing market remains fragmented and the mortgage origination business is even more dispersed.

Time and again, seemingly successful bank mergers have been rocked by revelations of poor anti-money-laundering compliance. Assessing the AML risk of a potential merger partner is extremely tricky.

The proposed sale of Territorial Bancorp faced competing offers that delayed its closing by several months. But Hope ultimately won shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Lawmakers have a short window of time in which they can use the Congressional Review Act to nullify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's misguided rule striking medical debt from credit reports.

"I can't just go fishing in the ocean," said Grasshopper Bank CEO Michael Butler, referring to his bank's ability to gather deposits. "JPMorgan Chase is out there with a yacht, and I'm driving a small speedboat."

Holly O'Neill, who was No. 5 on American Banker's list of the Most Powerful Women in Banking last year, will oversee a new department combining BofA's retail and preferred units. Aron Levine, who previously led preferred banking, is leaving the company.

Decreased funding for Community Development Financial Institutions and the declawing of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are top of mind for bankers.

The deal was highly vetted with regulators following the publicly traded company's failure to obtain approval in a past agreement, an executive said.

Here's what bankers should know about Trump's recent crypto reserve moves, Evolve Bank's continued fallout, artificial intelligence and other technology news.

The $381 million deal for Alabama-based Southern States Bancshares would give FB entree to the sprawling Atlanta market. CEO Christopher Holmes said the bank would likely focus on nearby suburban communities initially.

The deal, expected to close by the end of 2025, will place Mr. Cooper CEO Jay Bray as president and CEO of Rocket Mortgage.

The top five bank holding companies have combined business loan portfolios of more than $2.6 trillion as of Dec. 31.

BMO hired former CEO of Citi Private Bank Halé Behzadi to accelerate the bank's growth strategy in California; Pennsylvania's Linkbancorp received regulatory approval to sell its New Jersey operations to a credit union; Dream First Bank announced plans to gain branches throughout Oklahoma; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The Mississippi lender said regulators have signed off sooner than expected on its $103.6 million acquisition of First Chatham Bank. The bank's CEO and deal advisers said the speedy approval bodes well for future M&A.

The looming initial public offering from Swedish payments firm Klarna comes in the foreground of tariff uncertainties and inflationary pressures.

The top five bank holding companies have combined total consumer loan portfolios of more than $1.95 trillion.

Former Chicago City Council member Patrick Daley Thompson may have made "misleading" statements about more than $200,000 in loans, the high court ruled — but they weren't "false."

BMO names Tony Sciarrino head of its U.S. commercial bank; Renasant receives regulatory approvals to complete its pending acquisition of The First Bancshares; Arkansas classifies earned wage access as a financial product; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

BankFirst Capital Corp. is seeking to bolster its presence in southern Mississippi with a deal to acquire Magnolia State.

Following a media report that Department of Justice staffers have expressed concern about how Capital One's purchase of Discover would affect competition in the subprime credit market, analysts said the portfolio would be tough to sell. But they remain optimistic that the deal will get over the finish line.