Bucking a trend, one out-of-state bank will exit North Carolina
First National Corp. in Virginia announced the sale of its two North Carolina branches. Meanwhile, a number of larger competitors are laying plans for growth in the Carolinas.
Coinbase’s CEO projects confidence despite crypto crash
After losing nearly $700 million in the fourth quarter as bitcoin’s valuation tanked, Brian Armstrong stressed product diversification will help the company navigate the downturn.
Goldman’s top lawyer Ruemmler to leave over Epstein ties
The Wall Street investment bank had staunchly defended Kathy Ruemmler over her previous association with Jeffrey Epstein.
Head of PNC wealth unit lays out plans to add hundreds of advisors
Rich Guerrini said the bank plans to expand its advisor ranks by about 50% as it targets mass affluent and other new clients with personalized branch-based service.
Goldman equips AI agents do trade accounting, onboarding
The New York bank’s technology leaders have been working to reengineer back-office work and give some of it to Anthropic’s Claude generative AI model.
Inflation cools to 2.4%, bolstering Fed’s cautious rate outlook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its January Consumer Price Index Friday, showing that inflation rose 0.2%, while the annual rate eased to 2.4% after holding at 2.7% for several months. The data reduce the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the near future.
The SBA’s new credit restrictions are a disaster for small businesses
The Small Business Administration plans to bar green-card holders from receiving federal small-business loans. The result will be devastating for large swathes of the U.S. economy, costing jobs and cutting tax revenue.
We need a better system for routing international payments in a crisis
When even a savvy expert in payments systems can’t efficiently manage the transfer of funds to relatives in a crisis zone, it demonstrates that the system is failing us. We can and must do better.
Experts weigh whether CFPB database tweaks help or hurt
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s complaint portal has been flooded in recent years, but corporate debt collectors, industry attorneys and consumer advocates question whether the bureau’s efforts to reduce the volume will help consumers as much as it helps the firms they’re complaining about.
Community bank momentum continues in Congress with new bill
Republican Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., offered a new bill that would index the Durbin Amendment’s debit fee threshold to inflation. The bill joins a number of community bank-centered bills offered or moving through Congress