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.

A Connecticut-based couple sued the bank and Cavanaugh Appraisals, LLC for denying them a refinance in 2021 because of racial bias.

Scott Stengel, who has been Ally's general counsel since 2016, will succeed Ellen Fitzsimmons, who is retiring after four years as head of legal affairs at Truist.

While mortgage assumptions are on the rise, so too are complaints leveled against mortgage servicers for how they handle the loans. A common refrain is that the companies are moving too slowly.

The fireworks that traditionally accompany big bank CEOs' appearances in Congress were absent Wednesday, but instead executives pushed their opposition to the Basel III capital rules and its impact on the economy. 

The North Carolina-based bank is considering the idea of selling a portion of its securities portfolio as a way to build capital, CEO Bill Rogers said Tuesday. At the end of the third quarter, Truist's securities were worth about 20% less than what the company paid for them.

Morais, who leads the auto lender's consumer and commercial banking divisions, is preparing to leave as Ally Financial conducts a search for its next chief executive officer. She had been seen as a potential candidate to replace outgoing CEO Jeffrey Brown.

While the government-sponsored enterprise cut its origination forecast for this year, the Mortgage Bankers Association's updated forecast was unchanged from its October prediction.

The financial services industry has run TV ads during football games and organized lobbying visits by small-business owners in its fight against the Basel III endgame plan to raise capital requirements for larger lenders. The tactics are beginning to show signs of working.

Since the end of the Small Business Administration's 2022 fiscal year, the average loan size in its flagship program has dropped more than six figures. The addition of three new nondepository lenders could further drive down this figure.

The Cincinnati-based bank, which purchased a solar lender last year, is facing an investigation from 17 state attorneys general over the acquired company's lending practices and contractor network. One solar panel installer has gone bankrupt and faced complaints across the country.