Integrations

The banking industry, in the face of prolonged challenges, is relying on professional help to improve in areas such as productivity, hiring and M&A. The hope is that being introspective now will limit the amount of costly mistakes in the future.

A mature governance framework and risk culture that reaches all employees are among the attributes of a high-functioning "risk organization."

The bank's approval last year to buy OneWest Bank included a condition to submit an updated Community Reinvestment Act plan, but the CRA program now being presented by CIT is far from adequate.

Banks that prioritize structural changes in their compliance process will make risk frameworks more effective and sustainable over time.

Wintrust Financial's fourth-quarter earnings fell 7% from a year earlier, to $35.5 million, as a revenue surge failed to offset the higher costs associated with recent acquisitions.

The physical branch network is not dead, but to ensure its viability banks need to get serious about trimming it down and combining branches with digital channels.

Unlike the bargain-heavy aftermath of the crisis, acquisitions during the recovery have been hampered by high premiums and unsatisfactory returns.

BofI Holding's CEO Greg Garrabrants should be basking in the glow of his bank's record earnings growth and its potentially transformative acquisition of H&R Block Bank. Instead, he's fighting to regain the confidence of shareholders spooked by allegations that the online bank violated anti-money-laundering laws.

Bank of the Ozarks' taste for M&A means its information-technology staff has to juggle integration projects and experiments with new software, mobile and other technologies.

Talented lenders and anxious clients should expect a full-court press from Pennsylvania's community banks as they look to take market share from of the state's newcomer.