Paul Davis

Paul Davis is Editor of Community Banking and M&A at American Banker.

He has covered the financial services industry for two decades, working initially as the news editor at SNL Financial, where he was responsible for the firm’s daily banking, insurance, brokerage and REIT publications. He later covered the banking industry, along with commercial and residential real estate, as a senior reporter with American City Business Journals.

Paul joined American Banker in 2005, covering large institutions such as Bank of America, BB&T, Capital One and Wachovia. In this role, he helped shape the publication’s content during the financial crisis, the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the post-crisis recovery.

He was promoted to his current position in 2010, overseeing a team that covers financial institutions with up to $20 billion in assets. In this role, he oversees the community banking bureau’s content and strategic planning on topics that include commerical and retail banking, credit quality, M&A and regulatory compliance. Paul formed American Banker’s first bank CEO advisory board, and he has spoken at conferences hosted by the American Bankers Association, FIS Global and the University of Mississippi’s School of Business Administration.

Paul has a bachelor’s degree in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Wake Forest University. While at Wake Forest, he spearheaded and supervised the business school’s first comprehensive social media platform. He has appeared on BBC, C-SPAN, PBS and Investor’s Business Daily as an expert on the financial services industry.

M&A

Coronavirus takes toll on bank M&A

Bank consolidation has been stagnant since the pandemic hit, and the outlook for the rest of the year is bleak.

By Jim Dobbs

June 29
Paycheck Protection Program

SBA issues guidance on PPP loan forgiveness

The new Paycheck Protection Program rules, which created a review process and timeline for paying lenders, did not extend the time borrowers have to comply or increase how much money can be spent nonpayroll expenses.

By Paul Davis

May 24
M&A

BB&T, SunTrust set dates for shareholder votes on merger, 'Truist' name

Shareholders of both companies will meet separately next month to cast ballots on the $28 billion deal, and BB&T investors will also decide whether the new company should be called Truist Financial.

By Paul Davis

June 19
M&A

BB&T-SunTrust unveil postmerger name that nods to legacies

The combined company will be known as Truist, which plays off “trust,” a word the banks’ original names had in common.

By Paul Davis

June 12
M&A

BB&T-SunTrust deal came together with remarkable speed

It took less than six months to hammer out the biggest bank merger in more than a decade, and the price was one of the last things discussed, according to a new federal filing.

By Paul Davis

March 12
M&A

BB&T, SunTrust to combine in $28B merger

The industry's largest acquisition in more than a decade will create the sixth-biggest bank in the country, with assets of more than $442 billion.

By Paul Davis

February 7
Community banking

Provident Financial to buy New York wealth management firm

Provident's investment adviser unit will have nearly $3 billion in assets under management after it buys Tirschwell & Loewy.

By Paul Davis

January 22
Community banking

Stifel Financial buys bank to boost wealth management operations

The investment bank agreed to buy Business Bancshares in St. Louis.

By Paul Davis

May 11
Community banking

10 banks that may be prime targets for short sellers

Short sellers tend to go against the tide, making investments based on a belief that a stock is going to tank. These 10 banks have drawn the greatest amount of short-interest activity recently.

By Paul Davis

April 4
Regional banks

Fee Income: Difference Between Winning and Losing for Banks

As expenses get harder to tighten and net interest income remains strained, fee income becomes more important for banks.

By Paul Davis

February 24