Wealth management

Wakefield, Massachusetts-based The Savings Bank named Raichelle Kallery as its president and CEO; Los Angeles-based Banc of California is donating $1M to launch a recovery fund in response to the wildfires devastating Southern California; Amazon agreed to acquire the Bengaluri-based fintech Axio; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The investment banking giant has been the subject of regulatory probes regarding the way it vets prospective clients. So far, that's not driving away potential clients, executives say.

A midweek rally followed robust bottom-line results from JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and several other large banks. But further interest rate cuts may be needed to sustain momentum.

Banks can and should play a key role in giving members of minority groups and other underserved communities the tools they need to navigate an increasingly complicated financial landscape.

The Georgia-based bank plans to hire 85 relationship managers over the next three years to support growth in commercial and middle-market lending and private wealth. "The biggest risk is not being able to hire the bankers," said CEO Kevin Blair.

A slower rate of price increases would boost the likelihood of an interest-rate cut that could expand loan demand and lower banks' deposit costs. A higher pace of inflation, however, could derail those catalysts.

Unity Bank in Clinton, NJ, now offers EV charging stations in a collaboration with Encore Energy Group; fintech Beneficient announced its agreement to acquire Puerto Rico-based Mercantile Bank; Trump named payments exec Jared Isaacman to run NASA; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Primis Financial had to delay several reports to the SEC due to an accounting misclassification error, which raised the possibility that the bank's stock would no longer trade on Nasdaq. Executives say they're "optimistic about putting this behind us."

The technology has the potential to democratize access to knowledge about financial services, but like any tool, it must be used carefully and responsibly.

Oden, head of U.S. wealth, private banking, asset management and premier banking at HSBC, was one of the first in the industry to build an online wealth management platform.