Pandemic not discouraging Provident Bank's acquisition plan

"When we announced the deal, the market was getting hammered," Provident Bank CEO Chris Martin told Banking Dive. "We're going to be better together than separate, so why not continue?"

By Anna Hrushka • May 27, 2020

Community groups plan to sue OCC over CRA revamp

The agency says its changes are aimed at "strengthening and modernizing" the anti-redlining law, but community groups say the overhaul will allow banks to lend less to lower-income areas.

By Anna Hrushka • May 26, 2020

Explore the Trendline➔

Artificial intelligence

Banks must decide whether to forge AI tools in-house or partner with outside firms. AI’s importance can’t be understated, but legacy tech may also constrain the budget for banks looking to innovate.

By Banking Dive staff

Survey: 3 in 4 PPP borrowers confused by loan's terms

The uncertainty leaves some recipients reluctant to use the funds, even though new guidance doesn't expand the eight-week window. Waning interest in the program is spurring some banks to stop taking new applications.

By Dan Ennis • May 26, 2020

OCC defends timing, lack of regulatory support for CRA revamp

The absence of lock-step with the Federal Reserve and the FDIC — and the rule's quick turnaround — led one advocate to call it an "administrative fiasco."

By Anna Hrushka • May 21, 2020

Expect more PPP fraud cases as DOJ moves past 'low-hanging fruit'

The speed with which the SBA and Treasury Department set up the program, and the volume of loans funneled through it, means more cases are likely to emerge, an attorney says.

By Anna Hrushka • May 20, 2020

OCC releases CRA overhaul as Otting prepares to step down

The 372-page rule adds new data collection requirements and tweaks the asset thresholds for participating banks, but neither the FDIC nor the Fed joined the OCC on the new low-income lending guidelines.

By Dan Ennis • May 20, 2020

2018 asset cap has cost Wells Fargo $220B in market value

The bank's biggest competitors have seen a swell in deposits during the pandemic, as customers flee smaller banks for more security. But Wells Fargo's deposit bump was much smaller in the first quarter, by comparison.

By Dan Ennis • May 19, 2020

PPP is failing Black, Latino-owned businesses, survey shows

A partnership specializing in getting loans to nonwhite businesses has launched, but some companies are exhausted by the constant tweaks to the program. And Congress is planning more.

By Dan Ennis • May 18, 2020

Regulators temporarily ease bank leverage ratio requirements

The FDIC and OCC estimate the interim rule, which will be in effect through March 2021, would relax bank capital requirements by as much as $55 billion.

By Anna Hrushka • May 18, 2020

JPMorgan's Gemini, Coinbase play is a crypto industry 'roadmap,' analyst says

While concerns over fraud and money laundering have made banks hesitant to link up with crypto firms, the regulatory gains Gemini and Coinbase have made could signal those risks are diminishing.

By Anna Hrushka • May 15, 2020

Fed reprimand, resumption of job cuts overshadow Deutsche's green pledge

The coronavirus "made it even more of an imperative that we stick to our transformation plan" to slash 18,000 positions by 2022, two bank executives wrote in a memo to staff.

By Dan Ennis • May 14, 2020

Pandemic halts Suncoast Credit Union's acquisition of Apollo Bank

"The COVID-19 virus changed the value of our agreement and left us with an unpredictable future," Suncoast CEO Kevin Johnson told Banking Dive.

By Anna Hrushka • May 13, 2020

House Democrats attach pot banking bill to $3T coronavirus relief package

The bill's inclusion in the package follows multiple calls from lawmakers and advocates who say the largely cash-based cannabis industry poses health and safety risks to business owners and consumers.

By Anna Hrushka • Updated May 12, 2020

De novos see silver lining amid coronavirus pandemic

It's a difficult time to launch any business, much less a bank. But the timing comes with opportunities and challenges, industry leaders say.

By Anna Hrushka • May 11, 2020

Lawmakers look to tweak PPP as loan processing stalls

Backlogs have cleared up. Duplicate applications have been stripped from the process. But backlash from PPP's shortcomings leave Congress pitching new solutions.

By Dan Ennis • May 11, 2020

Inside a 1099 contractor's journey to coronavirus relief

Children's psychologist Leslie Ellis would have gotten a $60,000 PPP loan if she filed as a small business. But SBA rules forced her — and her employees — to file individually.

By Kate Patrick Macri • May 7, 2020

2 men charged with fraud over PPP loan applications

David Staveley claimed he had dozens of employees at three restaurants. He only owned two, and neither was open when the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Justice Department found.

By Dan Ennis • May 6, 2020

Regulators give Tennessee de novo conditional approval

RockPoint Bank is Tennessee's third new bank to open since 2008. Executives told Banking Dive in 2020 it had hoped to open by Oct. 31.

By Anna Hrushka • Updated March 22, 2021

Israeli bank fined $900M over tax evasion, role in soccer bribery scandal

The enforcement action against Hapoalim comes as regulators hit banks with a near-record $10 billion in fines over 15 months, a figure European startup Fenergo expects will increase.

By Anna Hrushka • May 4, 2020

Coronavirus delays $1.1B deal for Santander's Puerto Rico branches

The transaction is hardly the first delayed by the outbreak. First Horizon Bank's acquisition of 30 Truist branches is being pushed to the third quarter. And CalWest and Bank of Southern California are renegotiating their merger.

By Dan Ennis • May 4, 2020

Fed expands Main Street program, cuts loan threshold by half

The central bank is including larger companies, but some small-business advocates and industry leaders say the $500,000 minimum loan is still too high.

By Anna Hrushka • May 1, 2020

SBA gives small lenders 8-hour PPP window, drawing big banks' ire

"Many small businesses went to banks over $1 billion to help provide for their family," Richard Hunt, president and CEO of the CBA, tweeted Wednesday. "Don't play favorites with small businesses. All need a lifeline right now."

By Anna Hrushka • April 30, 2020

Wells Fargo's ties to NRA 'declining,' CEO Scharf says

The lender has been winding down its relationship with the gun lobby over the past two years, a bank spokesman said. Wells had arranged $431 million in debt for gunmakers between 2012 and 2018, Bloomberg data shows.

By Dan Ennis • April 29, 2020

Credit union trade group questions PPP's batch processing system

The 5,000 minimum required to submit loans in batches is too high to benefit smaller lenders like credit unions, CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan told Banking Dive.

By Anna Hrushka • April 29, 2020

Fed suspends 6-transaction-per-month limit on savings accounts

Limited bank hours and virus-related stay-at-home orders force customers to make more transactions online, spurring them to surpass the limit more quickly, the Independent Community Bankers of America argued.

By Dan Ennis • April 29, 2020