Banking

Lenders had started tightening as early as the fourth quarter in anticipation of a possible recession. Now, the banking crisis is driving community and regional banks in particular to hit the brakes harder, stoking renewed recessions fears.

With the acquisitions of CIT Group and a large portion of the failed Silicon Valley Bank, the North Carolina company has doubled in size for the second time in a little more than a year and joined the class of super regionals.

The banks invested in bonds at a time when rates were low, and their value has since dropped substantially. While there appears to be very little risk that the banks will ever have to realize the losses, an American Banker data analysis raises questions about whether regulators should toughen their monitoring of interest rate risk.

First Citizens BancShares in North Carolina has entered into a purchase and assumption agreement for all deposits and loans of the failed bank, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. About $90 billion of securities and other assets will remain in receivership.

Companies like U.S. Bancorp have found ways to apply the information they use to serve thin-file applicants to small-business owners and other borrowers.

The San Francisco bank said the move is designed to "foster closer alignment with the shareholder experience and signal commitment to the bank and all of its stakeholders." The company's stock price has fallen 89% this year, and government officials have reportedly been working with industry leaders on a rescue deal.

The Los Angeles company says it secured $1.4 billion of cash from a financing facility from Atlas SP Partners after clients drew down an additional 20% of the bank's deposits. Deposit levels have "stabilized," PacWest says.

Wall Street leaders and U.S. officials discussing an intervention at First Republic Bank are exploring the possibility of government backing to encourage a deal that would shore up the lender, people with knowledge of the matter say.

In prepared remarks to the American Bankers Association, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the government's intervention to cover uninsured deposits at Silicon Valley and Signature banks "reduced the risk of further bank failures."

After a bank run led to Signature Bank's failure, New York Community Bancorp bought much of what was left from the FDIC. The acquirer now faces questions about how it will persuade the remaining depositors to stick around.