Banking

After several quarters of slumping investment banking and trading fees, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company reported a big uptick from that division, which helped compensate for a large decline in net interest income.

The return of the higher-for-longer mantra is a headache for insurance companies and pension plans which, flush with cash, sent demand for bonds soaring this year.

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.

The current levels of credit enhancement are a reduction from levels of 58.0%, 48.7%, 35.9%, 22.5% and 17% on the classes A, B, C, D and E on the BLAST 2024-1 deal.

First-quarter results at the companies were promising for other banks looking to reel in fees from capital markets activities as deposit costs put pressure on net interest income.

The financing outlook improved from recent surveys on a macro basis, but expectations around commercial real estate helped cloud over the credit forecast.

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.

Dean Wheeler will drive the firm's growth push in the U.S. and follows the London firm promoting Serenity Morley to COO, to drive growth globally.