Regional banks

Comerica, which focuses on the energy sector, reported strong payment trends last quarter, while M&T, which concentrates more on real estate, showed deterioration. The divergence reflects varying exposures to sectors hit hard by the COVID-19 recession.

PNC, Regions and TD are among the banks that have taken steps to reduce their reliance on charges that disproportionately hit consumers living paycheck to paycheck. The changes come at a time when the Biden administration is expected to take a tougher stance on overdrafts.

Andrew Harmening, who took the helm of the Wisconsin company in April, pointed to an economy emerging from the pandemic and waning loan deferrals, saying that loan growth could resume by the end of the third quarter.

Cannabis, though still illegal at the federal level, continues to inch into the financial mainstream. Small credit unions and lenders as large as Valley National and East West have moved beyond just taking deposits from marijuana companies.

Adding Community Bankers Trust would help United fill a key service gap between its branches in Northern Virginia and the Carolinas. It's United’s 33rd M&A deal under CEO Richard Adams.

The company had delayed a vote set for late April to give it more time to collect the legally required support from two-thirds of its outstanding shares.

Joe Skarda, who was previously managing director of JPMorgan Chase’s U.S. wealth management central division, will oversee a unit that houses Key’s private bank, family wealth and mass affluent business segments.

The company’s retail banking and auto-lending businesses in the U.S. generated a larger share of overall profits in the first quarter, and Executive Chairman Ana Botín and other executives unveiled expansion plans for both units.

The Arkansas bank is turning to asset-based lending and loans to venture capital and other investment groups to help fill a void created by a shortage of new, big-ticket commercial real estate deals.

The Tennessee company said an unauthorized party gained access to dozens of accounts and obtained less than $1 million from some of those accounts.

At first the deal seemed an unlikely marriage of two mortgage-heavy companies. But acquiring the Michigan company would help New York Community accomplish its two chief goals — reducing deposit costs and its concentration of multifamily loans — while giving it the scale to pursue more deals.

The merger would create a company with nearly 400 branches, 87 loan production offices and $87 billion of assets.

Clarity on credit quality has bankers ready to strike deals after a lengthy pause. A steady rise in stock prices has also given potential buyers the financial wherewithal to pursue acquisitions.

The Ohio company has opened just 32 of 120 new branches it plans in the region by 2022, but those offices are making a sizable contribution to growth.

The Connecticut company will have more than 200 branches and $64 billion of deposits after completing the acquisition.

Zions Bancorp. CEO Harris Simmons says the Secured Overnight Financing Rate is more suited for derivative traders than regional banks as a replacement for Libor. His bank this week became the largest to say it would use the alternative developed by the American Financial Exchange.

BancorpSouth would have $44 billion of assets after it buys Houston-based Cadence. The company will be rebranded, while the bank will retain the Cadence name.

Longstanding familiarity with each other and years of informal talks helped the companies negotiate their $7.6 billion merger in just two months.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Chief Executive Bharat Masrani said he’s still interested in a major acquisition to add to the firm’s U.S. retail operations, and that he’s unfazed by the recent valuation surge for the regional lenders that would be his most likely targets.

Caroline Taylor, who recently ran Small Business Administration lending at Capital One, aims to expand her team at Regions, help steer borrowers into economic recovery and reach out to women and minority small-business owners who have been underserved.