Performance reports

A chief financial officer's workday is booked solid dealing with regulatory issues, risk assessments and finding places to cut costs. If they could find an extra hour, bank CFOs say they would use that time to consider how to improve their banks' strategies, employees and communities.

If banking is under attack, then chief financial officers are the defenders of the realm. Equipped with the numbers, they are uniquely positioned to bring the credible answers their stakeholders seek and the changes their companies need.

Our new special reports and proprietary research profile the key executives flanking the CEOs at financial institutions and explore how their roles have evolved. First up: the chief financial officer.

In March, American Banker Research conducted an in-depth online survey of 52 bank chief financial officers from American Banker's readership as part of our inaugural C-Suite Series. The respondents were from banks with less than $10 billion in assets, with vast majority coming from banks with $100 million to $1 billion in assets. They were asked how they spend their time, where they would like to take their careers and how they are handling the unprecedented challenges of today's banking environment. Among the insights revealed from the survey: Basel III hasn't been a big deal for the top line — yet; few CFOs are focused on mergers and acquisitions; and many of them consider their roles strategic. Highlights from the research follow.

Ocwen Financial's shares jumped 19% to more than $10 a share as of late morning Friday, the day after it reported a first-quarter profit and highlighted an expansion into mortgage lending.

It was a busy Thursday for NCUA, as it placed New Bethel Federal Credit Union, Portsmouth, Va., into conservatorship, and liquidated TLC Federal Credit Union of Tillamook, Ore.

The troubled Atlanta mortgage servicer's independent auditor has again delayed its 2014 financial results and has raised questions about the firm's viability, CEO Ron Faris said after Ocwen reported a steep earnings drop.

Hudson City Bancorp in Paramus, N.J., reported a staggering plunge in earnings after an unexpected delay of its sale to M&T Bank.

Banks' customer-satisfaction ratings are at a 10-year high, according to a new study by J.D. Power. The research firm identified the top-rated banks in each region, and found that the postmillennial generation has a thing for the megabanks.

The regulator is monitoring pricing, along with loan covenants and repayment schedules, as bankers compete for loans. Several bankers have noted recently that paydowns rose in the first quarter as competitors dangled relaxed terms to steal clients.

Royal Bancshares in Narberth, Pa., could have taken large writedowns and burned through capital to erase millions of dollars in bad assets. But management decided to hold onto those assets as it slowly ran off loans in a pair of shuttered business lines.

New York Community Bancorp in Westbury reported higher quarterly profit, though it continued to sell loans to stay below $50 billion in assets.

Silver State Schools Credit Union Friday said its financial results for the quarter ending March 31 show "continued progress" as it reported net income of $2.88 million.

Banks in Baltimore seem to have avoided the worst of the violence in the city's riots, though that's partly because they have few branches in some of the affected neighborhoods.

At Citigroup and Wells Fargo, shareholder proposals to disclose more about lobbying garnered double-digit percentages of the vote. PNC basked in environmentalists' admiration — after agreeing to leave business on the table.

First Community Bancshares, of Bluefield, Va., increased its profits slightly as legal costs and losses and expenses from selling foreclosed real estate declined.

Here's our annual list of the most profitable 200 publicly traded community banks and thrifts, with an analysis of how they are managing to outperform peers. The ranking is based on three-year average ROE.

Popular Inc. in San Juan, Puerto Rico, reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings despite grappling with the higher costs associated with its acquisition of assets from the failed Doral Bank.

Signature Bank in New York is poised to start lending to city governments. The move is well-timed; the wind-down of GE Capital removes a competitor and provides Signature with a chance to buy assets and hire salespeople.

Sun Bancorp in Mount Laurel, N.J., swung to a profit thanks to branch closings and other expense reductions.