Bank of Utah faces embezzlement lawsuit

Clients of Stephen Swensen, a once-respected financial adviser accused of swindling $29 million, named the bank in a lawsuit and claimed it was aware of a years-long Ponzi scheme uncovered by the SEC.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 21, 2023

Goldman in advanced talks to sell GreenSky: reports

The group of potential buyers includes investment firms Sixth Street, Pimco and KKR, according to The Wall Street Journal. A deal would be worth roughly $500 million, the outlet’s sources said.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 20, 2023

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

Eastern Bank to buy Cambridge Bancorp for $528M

The merger will create a $27.1 billion combined company, without Eastern’s insurance operations, which will be sold to global insurance brokerage firm Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. for $510 million.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 20, 2023

Rakuten withdraws bid for NCUA charter

The Japanese e-commerce firm previously tried three times to gain a charter via an industrial loan company application, only to withdraw each bid months later.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 19, 2023

Santander retools its structure

The bank is consolidating its retail and commercial business into a new global unit and creating a global digital consumer banking division in a move meant to enhance profitability.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 19, 2023

BMO winding down indirect auto loans

The move by the Canadian lender appears to be on-trend, with other lenders also stepping away from their indirect auto loan businesses in a challenging market.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 18, 2023

Wells Fargo ex-exec Tolstedt avoids prison time

A federal judge sentenced the former retail-banking chief to six months of home confinement and three years of probation for her role in connection with the bank's 2016 fake-accounts scandal.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 15, 2023

No buyer for Laurentian Bank after strategic review

Canada's ninth-largest bank will instead increase its "focus on efficiency and simplification."

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 15, 2023

USAA poised to offer no-interest loans as government shutdown looms

USAA said the loans are aimed at assisting customers who are likely to experience a paycheck disruption in the event of a government shutdown.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 15, 2023

Citi reboots its management chain

The bank scrapped a structure that split its business between two units, opting instead for five unit chiefs reporting directly to CEO Jane Fraser.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 13, 2023

Citizens to launch private bank

The Providence, Rhode Island-based lender has gravitated toward the wealthy in recent years, with wealth management acquisitions in 2018 and 2022. Its own full-service private bank is planned for Q4.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 12, 2023

Truist plans ‘sizable reductions’ in jobs, unveils $750M in cost savings

The bank wants to save $200 million by 2025 through reducing tech spend. It also plans to consolidate certain business lines, scale back its brick-and-mortar presence and cut four division heads by next quarter.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 12, 2023

Ripple makes its 2nd acquisition of 2023

The crypto firm on Friday agreed to buy Fortress Trust, a regulatory and technology infrastructure provider for blockchain companies. Ripple in May bought crypto custody company Metaco.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 11, 2023

Barclays set to cut hundreds in two-pronged effort: reports

The bank will trim roughly 450 roles in its U.K. retail unit, a labor union said. Barclays could also dismiss up to 5% of client-facing staff in its trading division, according to Bloomberg.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 11, 2023

Goldman may cut 450 or more employees in October: report

Managers across the bank have drafted lists of bottom performers in preparation for a cut of between 1% and 5% of workers, sources told the Financial Times, but numbers are not final.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 8, 2023

First Citizens folds SVB Private into wealth-management unit

Michael Wilson, who has led First Citizens Wealth for the past decade, will take over SVB Private, the private-banking and wealth-management unit that once belonged to the failed Silicon Valley Bank.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 8, 2023

Goldman’s strategy retreat leaves GreenSky in limbo

The installment-lending fintech, which Goldman is looking to sell, faces an uncertain future as the investment bank distances itself from an ambitious retail strategy.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 7, 2023

Finotta uses gamification to increase banks’ user engagement

The embedded fintech says its personalized financial guidance platform has helped boost user engagement on banks’ mobile apps.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Sept. 6, 2023

USAA notches latest mobile-deposit victory with Discover deal

The agreement lets Discover access 130 USAA patents and continue offering remote deposit capture technology. USAA has notched nine-figure court wins against Wells Fargo and PNC over similar patents.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 6, 2023

Average overdraft fee falls 11% to near-two-decade low: survey

The average nonsufficient funds fee, meanwhile, plunged 25% over the past year, Bankrate found. But ATM fees reached a record high. 

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Sept. 5, 2023

Ex-Wells Fargo exec Tolstedt should serve prison time, prosecutors say

Carrie Tolstedt, the only Wells Fargo executive charged in connection to the 2016 fake-accounts scandal, pleaded guilty to obstructing a bank examination in March.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 5, 2023

Florida credit union buys local bank in 8th such deal of 2023

Innovations Financial Credit Union agreed to buy First National Bank Northwest Florida, months after a deal for the bank — also involving a credit union — fell apart.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Aug. 31, 2023

Goldman Sachs sells financial planning arm

Independent wealth manager Creative Planning purchased Personal Financial Management for an undisclosed sum, the firms announced Monday.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Aug. 29, 2023

Burke & Herbert to buy West Virginia bank for $371M

The deal would create a bank with $8.1 billion in assets — tripling Burke & Herbert’s brick-and-mortar footprint and giving it a presence in Kentucky, West Virginia and Maryland’s Eastern Shore for the first time.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Aug. 28, 2023

TD discloses DOJ probe of bank’s AML compliance

The Canadian lender laid out losses Thursday from its failed First Horizon deal, adding — without detail — that it expects further penalties.

By Dan Ennis • Aug. 25, 2023