The number of borrowers who are at their credit limits is approaching its pre-pandemic level, and the percentage of balances that are sliding into delinquency has hit its highest rate in more than a decade, according to new research. Still, card companies are generally expressing optimism about their credit outlooks.

Bank stocks are up this year as interest rates have leveled off and there are hopes that pressure on lenders' profits could moderate.

The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a 30-page guidebook on managing affiliate risks. The report builds on formal guidance issued last year.

In talks with OCC officials, "it became obvious that we would not gain near-term approval given their recent experience with multifamily and CRE positions," FirstSun CEO Neal Arnold says. The companies announced other revisions to their deal, too.

Consolidation has slowed since the pandemic, but UMB's agreement to buy Heartland Financial — the largest deal in three years — is one of several merger announcements in the past two weeks. Talks among other potential buyers and sellers are said to be picking up.

The Philadelphia-based bank's parent company, Republic First Bancshares, had been roiled by a yearslong proxy battle involving activist investors groups and its former CEO.

Net charge-offs at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank increased by more than 80% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier. BofA executives say that the rising losses were in line with the bank's risk appetite.

Should the all-stock transaction close as planned later this year, Wintrust Financial in the Chicago area would gain about $2.7 billion of assets.

A solid majority of decision-makers at these companies expect to expand their workforces again this year, a Citizens Financial survey found. Loan losses are normally low in eras of economic expansion.

With high deposit and borrowing costs persisting amid the Federal Reserve's campaign against inflation, lenders face stress on their net interest margins and the potential of troubled loans ticking up.