Performance reports

Thanks to smart investments and relentless cutting of assets and businesses, Citi is looking leaner and healthier than it has in a long time.

Wells Fargo’s freshly installed CEO made clear Friday that he wants to chart a new course following the revelation that thousands of employees opened phony accounts. But Tim Sloan made few promises about what the megabank will eventually look like.

Profit at Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach in California improved in the third quarter, due to loan growth and increased securities income.

Concerns about bad oil loans have begun to fade, but other credit problems could be lurking. Several big banks reported a notable uptick in provisions for consumer loan losses.

Consumers voted with their feet in September, as the embattled bank said Friday that new checking accounts were down by 25% from a year earlier.

Community banks need profit and diversification opportunities, while marketplace lenders may find mergers to be the easiest route into the banking system.

Warren's voice is powerful in criticizing big banks, but she could play a more active role in providing relief to community banks to help boost job creation.

Fees and loans drove up third-quarter profits at Commerce Bancshares in Kansas City, Mo.

Wells Fargo, the lender whose chief executive officer stepped down this week amid a scandal in its branch network, said third-quarter profit fell 2.6% as expenses climbed and the bank set aside more money for soured loans.

Citigroup posted third-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates as bond-trading revenue surged 35% from a year earlier, helped by interest-rate and currencies trading.

Third-quarter profit at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh declined on a yearly basis as a higher tax rate and increased expenses ate into improved revenue in both lending and fee-based products.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, said profit fell 7.6% from a year ago, when results got a boost from $2.2 billion in tax benefits. Revenue climbed 8.4% as bond-trading revenue rose more than analysts estimated.

A nearly double-digit increase in net interest income helped third-quarter profit increase by 12.9% at VSB Bancorp in New York.

Hingham Institution for Savings in Massachusetts said a double-digit spike in lending contributed to a strong third quarter.

The $4.3 billion-asset parent of Century Bank and Trust Co. said in a press release Tuesday that its net income increased 5.2% in the quarter from a year earlier to $6.4 million, or $1.16 a share.

About two-thirds of banks that close branches will lose deposit share in their impacted markets in time. Here's how to prevent customers from leaving your bank.

It's been a tough year for farmers, and lenders are looking for ways to help those borrowers offset sagging income.

Earnings season is set to begin with a bang Oct. 14 when four of the six largest banking companies report. The next few weeks will likely bring a steady stream of lackluster commercial lending results, good news on energy and mortgage books and (thanks, Wells Fargo) a whole lot of scrutiny of cross-selling practices.

Large banks aren't the only financial institutions producing up-and-coming executives. Five executives on American Banker's list of Women to Watch hold key positions at banks with less than $30 billion in assets.

Wells Fargo, the lender grappling with a scandal involving unauthorized customer accounts, had its outlook lowered to negative from stable by Fitch Ratings.