Special Program Root Tag

Bank mergers and acquisitions have slowed in recent years amid recession fears and other economic uncertainties. But bank consolidation is a century-old trend that's expected to rev up again as early as this year due to higher costs, tougher regulation and fierce competition.

Larger banks are responsible for a special assessment to cover the costs of the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The price tag has ballooned by $4.1 billion, and trade groups are criticizing the FDIC's process, arguing that it lacks transparency.

The community development financial institution was the nation's top non-qualified mortgage lender last year, according to one ranking.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent separate letters to banking regulators on the anniversary of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, with Hagerty questioning the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s sale of Signature Bank's assets and Warren urging the regulators to tighten capital and liquidity requirements.

The head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Biden Administration said she will transition from public life starting March 22.

Regulatory reform – rather than Biden's proposed solutions – is needed to fix the inventory crisis, some say, but others applauded the president's buyer cost-cutting initiatives.

The letter, which was sent to bank regulators, represents a further escalation of lawmaker criticism of the Basel III endgame proposal, and comes just as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to testify in the House Financial Services Committee.

With tougher capital requirements looming, a number of regionals including U.S. Bancorp, Huntington and Santander are using these new instruments to share risk with nonbank investors and lighten their capital load. Experts point out the pros and cons.

Bank regulators Friday said the existing laws governing safety and soundness and fair lending are adequate to address risks posed by artificial intelligence, noting that while AI may be used to inform lending decisions, banks are ultimately responsible for compliance.

Left-leaning shareholder groups are asking JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and other large asset managers to explain a recent decline in their support for certain environmental and social policies at public companies.