Commercial banking

The deal for Michigan-based Flagstar Bancorp, announced in April, was originally expected to be completed by the end of the year. The New York bank’s CEO expressed optimism that it will still get regulatory approval.

The San Francisco bank reported a 26% increase in its third-quarter earnings, thanks to robust single-family, multifamily and commercial real estate loan activity in New York, Boston and its home city.

Climate First Bank in St. Petersburg, Florida, is offering loans for condominium improvements that will reduce carbon emissions while fortifying buildings against serious weather events. More banks may implement similar programs in the years ahead.

The acquisition of Sabal Capital Partners, which has been growing its footprint in commercial mortgage-backed securities lending, will help the Alabama bank build out its capital markets business.

Many banks are still making loans tied to the scandal-plagued benchmark despite years of preparation for its demise. The end of 2021 could prove hectic as bankers scramble to implement changes and explain them to commercial borrowers.

Already contending with stressed retail, hotel and restaurant loans, bankers are beginning to view office lending — historically a safe bet — as increasingly risky as companies of all types rethink their space needs.

The company is exploring a range of options to diversify its balance sheet, but new CEO Thomas Cangemi says the best plan of attack is to merge with or acquire another institution.

The architects of two major loan deals featuring Black banks, one involving multiple lenders and a pro sports franchise and another backed by Citigroup, say more transactions like these are in the works.

HSBC, Bank of the West and Fannie Mae are among those offering green mortgage bonds, financing commercial clients’ efforts to rein in carbon emissions and developing other novel products that help customers tackle environmental challenges.

When Jane Fraser takes the reins of Citigroup in February, she will have to tackle the company’s cards slump, lagging performance metrics and challenges presented by employees’ return to the office.

The Cincinnati company will hire about 950 workers to meet heightened demand for loan deferrals and other forms of relief clients are seeking to weather the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak.

In recent months federal regulators have been speaking out on the risks that extreme weather events pose to the financial system, something their European counterparts have been doing for some time.

Startups are increasingly expanding into new areas with their bank partners in an effort to broaden their customer base and bring products to market faster.

Charles Scharf’s most immediate priorities will be mending fences with regulators and getting the bank out from under a Fed-imposed asset cap. But he also must come up with strategies for spurring revenue growth and reining in expenses.

Calls for getting more women into leadership positions, and strategies for achieving that, dominated the LEAD conference in New York.

The bank is expecting to benefit from the discount airline's first flights to the Aloha State even as a white-hot local housing market starts to cool.

Why now? Will it work? How will their rivals respond? The megadeal between the two East Coast regionals offers up plenty of grist for speculation.

Some hopeful souls in Washington believe the commercial banking industry will return to originating and servicing higher-risk mortgages, but most banks are more likely to continue withdrawing from the sector.

The Portland, Ore, company also benefited from lower expenses and an improved efficiency ratio.

Mortgage fees at the nation’s biggest home lender declined by a third in the three months ended June 30 to the lowest in more than five years.