Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman said a lack of banking experience among regulatory officials has led to unintended consequences. She flagged mergers, fintech partnerships and liquidity proposals as prime examples.

The Biden-Harris administration's approach to medical debt reduction is well-intentioned, but counterproductive. There are better ways to reform the system and maintain patients' dignity.

ESL Federal Credit Union's plan to acquire Generations Bancorp marks the 16th deal this year in which a credit union plans to acquire a bank. While controversial, such transactions are swelling in number.

While other Washington regulators revise their approaches to merger reviews, the Federal Reserve has made no official change to its framework. The $35 billion merger could demonstrate just how differently the central bank is approaching the issue — if at all.

After doing "some really intensive thinking," the Buffalo-area lender said it found the partner it was looking for in the Norwich, New York-based NBT Bancorp.

Liberty Capital Bancshares in Texas agreed to acquire in-state peer Southwestern Bancorp; BNY announced it will buy managed-account software company Archer; Louisiana is supporting crypto but pushing back on CBDCs; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The Honolulu-based seller said it rejected a competing bid from an investor group and would stick with its plan to sell to Hope Bancorp for $78.6 million in stock.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s proposed rule aims to improve record keeping for custodial accounts, while the merger policy would increase regulatory scrutiny for combinations involving the largest banks.

EverBank Financial in Florida said the deal would give it $900 million of loans and $2 billion of deposits. Should the deal close in early 2025 as planned, it would end a long saga for Sterling.

Jersey-based JTC will pay $80 million for Citigroup's global fiduciary and trust administration services business.