PPP is failing Black, Latino-owned businesses, survey shows

A partnership specializing in getting loans to nonwhite businesses has launched, but some companies are exhausted by the constant tweaks to the program. And Congress is planning more.

By Dan Ennis • May 18, 2020

Regulators temporarily ease bank leverage ratio requirements

The FDIC and OCC estimate the interim rule, which will be in effect through March 2021, would relax bank capital requirements by as much as $55 billion.

By Anna Hrushka • May 18, 2020

Explore the Trendline➔

M&A

President Donald Trump’s reelection was predicted to yield loosened regulation. But tariff volatility and economic uncertainty has thrown a wrench into an expected boom in mergers and acquisitions.

By Banking Dive staff

JPMorgan's Gemini, Coinbase play is a crypto industry 'roadmap,' analyst says

While concerns over fraud and money laundering have made banks hesitant to link up with crypto firms, the regulatory gains Gemini and Coinbase have made could signal those risks are diminishing.

By Anna Hrushka • May 15, 2020

Fed reprimand, resumption of job cuts overshadow Deutsche's green pledge

The coronavirus "made it even more of an imperative that we stick to our transformation plan" to slash 18,000 positions by 2022, two bank executives wrote in a memo to staff.

By Dan Ennis • May 14, 2020

Pandemic halts Suncoast Credit Union's acquisition of Apollo Bank

"The COVID-19 virus changed the value of our agreement and left us with an unpredictable future," Suncoast CEO Kevin Johnson told Banking Dive.

By Anna Hrushka • May 13, 2020

House Democrats attach pot banking bill to $3T coronavirus relief package

The bill's inclusion in the package follows multiple calls from lawmakers and advocates who say the largely cash-based cannabis industry poses health and safety risks to business owners and consumers.

By Anna Hrushka • Updated May 12, 2020

De novos see silver lining amid coronavirus pandemic

It's a difficult time to launch any business, much less a bank. But the timing comes with opportunities and challenges, industry leaders say.

By Anna Hrushka • May 11, 2020

Lawmakers look to tweak PPP as loan processing stalls

Backlogs have cleared up. Duplicate applications have been stripped from the process. But backlash from PPP's shortcomings leave Congress pitching new solutions.

By Dan Ennis • May 11, 2020

Inside a 1099 contractor's journey to coronavirus relief

Children's psychologist Leslie Ellis would have gotten a $60,000 PPP loan if she filed as a small business. But SBA rules forced her — and her employees — to file individually.

By Kate Patrick Macri • May 7, 2020

2 men charged with fraud over PPP loan applications

David Staveley claimed he had dozens of employees at three restaurants. He only owned two, and neither was open when the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Justice Department found.

By Dan Ennis • May 6, 2020

Regulators give Tennessee de novo conditional approval

RockPoint Bank is Tennessee's third new bank to open since 2008. Executives told Banking Dive in 2020 it had hoped to open by Oct. 31.

By Anna Hrushka • Updated March 22, 2021

Israeli bank fined $900M over tax evasion, role in soccer bribery scandal

The enforcement action against Hapoalim comes as regulators hit banks with a near-record $10 billion in fines over 15 months, a figure European startup Fenergo expects will increase.

By Anna Hrushka • May 4, 2020

Coronavirus delays $1.1B deal for Santander's Puerto Rico branches

The transaction is hardly the first delayed by the outbreak. First Horizon Bank's acquisition of 30 Truist branches is being pushed to the third quarter. And CalWest and Bank of Southern California are renegotiating their merger.

By Dan Ennis • May 4, 2020

Fed expands Main Street program, cuts loan threshold by half

The central bank is including larger companies, but some small-business advocates and industry leaders say the $500,000 minimum loan is still too high.

By Anna Hrushka • May 1, 2020

SBA gives small lenders 8-hour PPP window, drawing big banks' ire

"Many small businesses went to banks over $1 billion to help provide for their family," Richard Hunt, president and CEO of the CBA, tweeted Wednesday. "Don't play favorites with small businesses. All need a lifeline right now."

By Anna Hrushka • April 30, 2020

Wells Fargo's ties to NRA 'declining,' CEO Scharf says

The lender has been winding down its relationship with the gun lobby over the past two years, a bank spokesman said. Wells had arranged $431 million in debt for gunmakers between 2012 and 2018, Bloomberg data shows.

By Dan Ennis • April 29, 2020

Credit union trade group questions PPP's batch processing system

The 5,000 minimum required to submit loans in batches is too high to benefit smaller lenders like credit unions, CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan told Banking Dive.

By Anna Hrushka • April 29, 2020

Fed suspends 6-transaction-per-month limit on savings accounts

Limited bank hours and virus-related stay-at-home orders force customers to make more transactions online, spurring them to surpass the limit more quickly, the Independent Community Bankers of America argued.

By Dan Ennis • April 29, 2020

Day 1 of PPP's Round 2 didn't bring the refresh bankers wanted

Technical glitches and overwhelming demand again took down the SBA's loan processing system, as lenders ponder all-nighters, equality and copious screen-checking.

By Dan Ennis • April 28, 2020

Sen. Gillibrand calls on Congress to reestablish postal banking service

A return to the postal banking system would aid in the delivery of coronavirus stimulus checks, said Mehrsa Baradaran, a law professor specializing in banking law at the University of California, Irvine.

By Anna Hrushka • April 28, 2020

Lenders get 2nd chance to correct PPP flaws

Despite some negative press, the first rollout of the SBA program has let some banks prove they can help their customers even in the worst of times, said David Zaring, a Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics.

By Anna Hrushka • April 27, 2020

Lenders report PPP portal access issues minutes after relaunch

"The difference between this program and unemployment is if you qualify for this program, it’s like getting unemployment authorization and then having a footrace to the office," Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said Sunday.

By Dan Ennis • Updated April 27, 2020

House passes $484B relief package, including $320B for PPP loans

Despite the flaws associated with the first round of funding — from last-minute guidance to a portal outage to alleged borrower favoritism — the new infusion is expected to be available only briefly.

By Dan Ennis • April 23, 2020

Monzo applies for US banking license

The British digital bank, which is furloughing up to 295 U.K. employees and closing a Las Vegas office, told the OCC it expects most of the disruption from the coronavirus pandemic to have subsided by its launch date.

By Anna Hrushka • April 23, 2020

$60B carveout for small lenders doesn't solve PPP's problems, fintech exec says

The set-aside should have taken into account the size of loan, not the bank, Funding Circle's Ryan Metcalf told Banking Dive.

By Anna Hrushka • April 23, 2020