To freeze or not to freeze (bank execs' variable pay)?

Barclays and Goldman Sachs offer differing perspectives on when to withhold unvested but conditional compensation.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 23, 2022

Washington policymakers spout off on CBDCs

A Friday speech by Fed Gov. Lael Brainard and a Feb. 7 report from the Congressional Research Service underscore the U.S. government's rising interest in a digital dollar.

By Lynne Marek • Feb. 22, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

M&A

President Donald Trump’s reelection was predicted to yield loosened regulation. But tariff volatility and economic uncertainty has thrown a wrench into an expected boom in mergers and acquisitions.

By Banking Dive staff

M&T, People’s United delay merger timeline as Citizens winds up HSBC deal

Buffalo, New York-based M&T becomes the latest bank to change its plans amid lagging approval from the Fed.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 22, 2022

Flex work in 2022 may mean chucking your title

Where Citi became 2021's poster bank for hybrid schedules, UBS is looking to streamline by making employees known more for their functions than by their place in a pecking order.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 18, 2022

Banking panel Republicans skip vote on Fed nominees

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-PA, cited Sarah Bloom Raskin's "revolving door" conduct in a statement on the boycott. Democrats said they would reschedule the vote for the five nominees.

By Dan Ennis • Updated Feb. 25, 2022

SPAC to buy cannabis banking leader Safe Harbor in $185M deal

Safe Harbor spun off from Partner Colorado Credit Union in July and launched a commercial pot lending platform in late 2021. CEO Sundie Seefried will lead the combined organization.

By Robin Bradley • Feb. 15, 2022

TD freezes $1.1M in donations to Canada protesters

The bank idled two personal accounts after GoFundMe said it would return millions meant to cover food, fuel and expenses for activists snarling traffic in the name of cross-border truckers bemoaning COVID vaccine mandates.

By Robin Bradley • Feb. 14, 2022

Crypto lender BlockFi to pay $100M to settle with SEC, states

The company agreed to stop selling its interest-bearing account in the U.S. and launch a new one tailored to the Securities Act of 1933. Half of the settlement money will go to the SEC. The other $50 million will be split among 32 states.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 14, 2022

The Fed can't seem to get a step ahead

The central bank revamped stock-trading rules. Nominees for Fed governor roles signed an ethics pledge. And yet new financial disclosure revelations deepen the Fed's PR nightmare.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 11, 2022

CFTC chief eyes greater authority in crypto oversight

CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam asked a Senate panel for an extra $100 million and the authority to police the cash market for digital assets, in addition to its traditional role overseeing derivatives.

By Robin Bradley • Feb. 10, 2022

Fed nominees agree to ethics pact amid 'revolving door' allegations

The pledge comes after a Republican senator questioned Sarah Bloom Raskin's role in regard to a master account a fintech received. Meanwhile, the Boston Fed picked its next president.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 10, 2022

Subprime lender Elevate to pay more than $3.75M to end D.C. interest rate suit

The lender, which was flagged to the FDIC by consumer advocates last week, along with its partner banks, also agreed to waive more than $300,000 in past-due interest fees owed by D.C.-based customers.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 9, 2022

House lawmakers spar over stablecoin regulation

"Simply labeling something as stable or overly relying on a one-to-one ratio does not, in itself, mean it maintains a stable value," House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters, D-CA, said Tuesday.

By Jonathan Berr • Feb. 9, 2022

Senators probe allegations of JPMorgan 'robo-signing' in debt collection

A CFPB consent order barring the bank from that practice expired in 2020, but a ProPublica report alleges JPMorgan has resumed an "affidavit-signing assembly line."

By Robin Bradley • Feb. 8, 2022

Fed, OCC call hearing on U.S. Bank-MUFG Union tie-up

The March 8 virtual hearing may represent the first test of Biden-era regulators' deepened commitment to a review of bank mergers.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 8, 2022

FDIC's acting chief lays out priorities as advocates demand action

The agency's new leader stressed an interagency CRA revamp, climate risk and attention to bank mergers as 15 groups sought to quash partnerships between fintechs and banks that skirt state-imposed interest rate caps.

By Robin Bradley • Feb. 7, 2022

Bank of America CEO sees 30.6% pay bump to land him in the $30M club

The raise comes as profits at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender jumped 78% in 2021 and shareholders saw a 47% boost in the bank's stock price over the year.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 7, 2022

FDIC chair lauds agency's resolve in final speech

The crisis "unlike any other" that Jelena McWilliams referenced Thursday is COVID-19 — and the regulator's response to it — not the unusual political squabble that spurred her exit.

By Robin Bradley • Feb. 4, 2022

Fed hearing throws spotlight on Raskin-Toomey rift

Another senator, Cynthia Lummis, R-WY, raised a potential ethics quandary, seemingly accusing Raskin of using her influence to help a fintech gain access to the central bank's payments system.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 3, 2022

Citi whistle-blower wants a piece of OCC's $400M penalty

Allegations of audit data manipulation a senior risk analyst shared with regulators and authorities "allowed the OCC to look into things that they otherwise wouldn't have," an attorney told Law360.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 2, 2022

CFPB's Chopra is unafraid to keep fighting

Even in college, he saw "no advantage to being a pushover." Now he enters his first full year at the regulator's helm with a full and — some would argue — aggressive agenda.

By Jonathan Berr • Jan. 31, 2022

Goldman hikes Solomon's pay to keep up with the Morgans

The bank also gave restricted-stock packages to roughly three dozen senior executives after shareholders asked why the CEO and COO were singled out for awards in October.

By Dan Ennis • Jan. 31, 2022

Chamber of Commerce, Goldman exec question Fed independence

A Chamber of Commerce executive wrote senators with concern over nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin's views on fossil-fuel lending, adding he didn't want politicization to affect the Fed as it has the FDIC.

By Robin Bradley • Jan. 28, 2022

CFPB blasts 'junk fees' in new salvo against overdraft, other charges

The bureau is seeking comments from the public through March 31 concerning fees on bank accounts, credit cards and other financial products that may be seen as excessive or unexpected.

By Robin Bradley • Jan. 27, 2022

Toomey assails Fed slate's lack of (geographic) diversity

The Senate banking panel's ranking member also cites nominees' lack of experience with the energy sector, and asks President Joe Biden how his picks comply with a 1913 law.

By Dan Ennis • Jan. 26, 2022