Interest rates

Bankers are largely downplaying the impact of the Federal Reserve's interest rate increase. Some said this week that the quarter-point hike could be good for near-term profitability.

The Columbus, Ohio-based bank reevaluated its earnings guidance amid tough competition that hampered its production of commercial real estate and indirect auto loans.

While Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh has sought to inject some mystery into the central bank's communications with markets, an American Banker analysis shows that officials other than the chair have been speaking more and more frequently over the last few decades.

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach took an $85 million loss on the sale of $1 billion worth of municipal bonds. It plans to reinvest the proceeds into higher-yielding loans and investments.

Many traders took the Federal Reserve chair's tough talk on inflation as a signal that the central bank is poised for a rate hike, but the corresponding dip in long-dated bonds proved short-lived.

Banks are putting money into creating services to keep customers happy, but the thing that will keep customers happiest is out of their control.

The Fed's annual Jackson Hole symposium brings together bankers from around the world, but there's really only one question that matters. You know what it is.

The Federal Reserve governor said inflation is too high but said she ultimately voted last week to hold interest rates steady to give recent economic trends more time to play out.

Bond yields rose after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's second press conference last week, and bankers may have to accept higher rates as the price of a more parsimonious Fed.

Bankers largely agree that there should be reforms, but don't agree on which ones; plus, our second batch of best-performing banks.

In a recent survey of community bank executives, 84% said they agreed with the Federal Reserve that changes are necessary, but the results show a wide range of views about what exactly those changes should be.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Christopher Waller says he is OK with dialing down the amount of communication issued by the central bank's monetary policy committee, but doesn't want the central bank to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

The Federal Reserve weighs rising inflation and a growing economy against a truce in the Middle East and the rise of artificial intelligence in the first monetary policy meeting under new Chair Kevin Warsh.

In passing the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act, Congress intended to create national rules that would guide lending across state borders. States can't simply opt out of them.

Lenders pulled back on commercial real estate loans in 2023, as high interest rates put pressure on property values. They're now returning to the sector, and the renewed competition is prompting a pricing war.

Banks' deposit costs fell as the Fed made borrowing cheaper. But signs of increased competition are already emerging, and analysts see a tougher road ahead.

The Federal Open Market Committee's April meeting — likely Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's last — is unanimously expected to keep interest rates steady, but questions about energy, inflation and the upcoming transition in leadership still loom.

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said bankers and economists are broadly against lowering interest rates now, given uncertainty from the Iran war.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is cautiously monitoring consumer sentiment as tensions from the Iran war push energy prices higher, complicating efforts to bring inflation down to the Fed's target.

A database that holds the details about every attack on databases is itself at risk of being compromised, which would leave banks and other businesses on their own when it comes to network defense.