Investments

The establishment of the Primary Dealer Credit Facility is among a flurry of recent actions by the central bank to limit the economic impact of the coronavirus.

The Federal Reserve's support for the commercial paper market made clear that it was willing to go beyond cutting interest rates, but the central bank may feel pressure to do even more as the crisis worsens.

RTP Global and HV Holtzbrinck Ventures led an €18.5 million ($20.3) Series B round in Penta, a Berlin-based small business bank.

Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee, said financial institutions "need to be investing in their communities right now, not investing in their CEOs’ stock portfolios.”

Banks may be protected from a direct hit, but they have invested in vehicles that include such loans, potentially exposing them to defaults.

As India’s first billion-dollar share sale in more than two years and the only credit card firm in the nation to go public, SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd.’s float may exceed the $1.4 billion target. The question is by how much in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase recently avoided shareholder votes tied to their use of arbitration clauses in sexual harassment cases. But socially conscious investors say the issue is likely to flare up again elsewhere and that banks would do well to address a wide range of gender equity matters head on.

An effort by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to examine membership rules for the Federal Home Loan Bank System is reigniting an argument over whether to allow more nonbanks in or impose tougher barriers.

Hanover Bancorp will move forward with plans for an initial public offering after shareholders backed its slate of director nominees.

The agency plans to conduct a review of how it regulates the 11 Federal Home Loan banks amid concerns that some companies are inappropriately seeking a back door into the Home Loan Bank System.