Bank channel

Bank of America seems to have taken over for Citigroup as the poster child for what can go wrong at a big, complicated bank.

More companies are shuttering branches obtained in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-backed deals. In most cases, buyers took on branches in markets beyond their geographical scope, or came to a later realization that it would cost too much to maintain and compete for greater market share in single-branch markets.

In the third quarter, most big regionals exceeded the pending common equity targets established so far, but some may still face a long road out of capital purgatory.

Positions are being funded with the help of $2.4 million in state tax credits.

Data gathered by the deposit research firm Market Rates Insight shows that total deposits increased by a full trillion dollars in the 36 months preceding October, despite the steady plunge of rates paid in that same time frame.

Along with the executives of Comerica Inc., and U.S. Bancorp, Steinour argued that a partial near-term economic recovery was sufficient for his bank to again achieve increased loan volume and steady profitability.

The idea that the banking business, especially at the largest banks, is back to normal is dangerous. Granted, most of the giants reported better-than-expected profits for the second and third quarters, but the performance was not based on sustainable factors — not for all of them or even most of them.

Dividend increases, acquisitions and loan growth — three things big banks and their shareholders have been longing for — could be in the cards for 2011, CEOs said Tuesday.

Rep. Spencer Bachus was formally selected by the Republican Steering Committee on Tuesday to serve as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee next year.

Bank of New York Mellon Wealth Management announced it plans to double its office space in Miami.Year-over-year, sales in Florida have increased 20% for the firm.

The CEO admitted the bank was “sub-optimized in wealth brokerage and retirement,” but said it was aiming to change that through organic growth.

The North Carolina-based company becomes the third bank to sell a guaranteed income option as part of its institutional plan offering.

Far from being partners, observers said Rep. Barney Frank and whoever the GOP picks to succeed him as Financial Services Committee chairman are likely to be at loggerheads.

After seeing its stock rose 5% over the last two weeks, Wells Fargo is within a few billion dollars of JPMorgan Chase's $156 billion market capitalization.

PrimeVest Financial Services, Inc. has tapped into a substantial demand for third-party marketing services among banks and credit unions that want temporary solutions or want to limit their level of commitment.

Community banks are poised to revisit in 2011 many of the troubled loans they worked hard to restructure this year.

The Federal Reserve Board is now leading an examination of put-back risk at the largest banks, asking institutions to include their exposure to repurchases in reports to the central bank about their capital strength.

There are a variety of working styles and strategies represented by the top 50 bank reps, but some themes stand out that have helped keep them above the cut.

The trustee seeking to recover funds lost in the multibillion Ponzi scheme run by Bernard Madoff Thursday sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $6.4 billion. The trustee cited the firm's "decades-long role" as the primary banker in the case.

Between data released by the Fed Reserve and diplomatic cables posted by WikiLeaks, it has been a big week for disclosures of information previously treated as closely guarded ...