Banking

In talks with OCC officials, "it became obvious that we would not gain near-term approval given their recent experience with multifamily and CRE positions," FirstSun CEO Neal Arnold says. The companies announced other revisions to their deal, too.

Consolidation has slowed since the pandemic, but UMB's agreement to buy Heartland Financial — the largest deal in three years — is one of several merger announcements in the past two weeks. Talks among other potential buyers and sellers are said to be picking up.

The Philadelphia-based bank's parent company, Republic First Bancshares, had been roiled by a yearslong proxy battle involving activist investors groups and its former CEO.

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.

Leaders of ORNL Federal Credit Union are piloting Zest AI's new artificial intelligence-powered assistant to ensure equitable underwriting practices and measure performance against similar institutions.

Ohio-based Liberty Home Mortgage joins several companies who started using a more modernized FICO credit score for nonconforming mortgage originations recently.

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.

Citigroup's earnings topped analysts' estimates as corporations tapped markets for financing and consumers leaned on credit cards.

The company reported net interest income that slightly missed analyst estimates, a sign the benefit of higher interest rates may be waning amid pressure to pay out more to depositors. Costs rose on higher compensation and an FDIC assessment.

Mortgages that homebuyers locked in March rose 17% even with FICOs at record high for Optimal Blue's dataset, suggesting there are many qualified borrowers.