White House report tests Fed’s openness to crypto

The President’s Work Group on Digital Assets released a report calling for changes to the central bank’s master account policies. The reforms could make it easier for digital asset groups to access the federal payments system.

Fed’s Kugler to step down next week

The Federal Reserve governor’s term was set to expire in January and President Donald Trump has made it clear that she would not be reappointed. The vacancy will give Trump an opportunity to appoint someone new to the central bank’s board.

Northwest acquires Penns Woods, expands Pennsylvania footprint

Columbus-based Northwest Bancshares finalized its acquisition of Penns Woods Bancorp; Barclays becomes the second U.K.-based bank to leave the Zero Banking Alliance; BankUnited announces the appointment of Michael Mitchell as executive vice president, director of branch banking; and more in this week’s banking news roundup.

A Dallas bank is confident its losses will pay off

First Foundation is in transformation mode, after a capital infusion and new management gave it some power to remix its challenged balance sheet. But the bank just took its third quarterly loss out of the last four quarters.