Metropolitan Bank Group said it plans to merge Edens Bank, First Commercial Bank and Northwest Community Bank into North Community Bank and merge Community Bank of DuPage, Metropolitan Bank & Trust and Chicago Community Bank into Citizens Community Bank, which will be renamed Metrobank. Get the full story »
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Palin to call on Fed to ‘cease, desist’ bond buys
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is deeply concerned about the Federal Reserve’s plan to buy $600 billion worth of U.S. bonds to boost the economy, placing the former vice presidential candidate in line with Germany in questioning U.S. monetary policy.
Palin is expected to demand that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke “cease and desist” the stimulus injection, according to National Review Online, which said it obtained snippets of Palin’s prepared remarks scheduled for Monday before a trade association in Phoenix. Get the full story »
Fed: Looser lending not luring small business
The Federal Reserve says banks loosened lending standards for small businesses the last three months but demand for loans remains weak.
It marks the second time in nearly four years that banks have made loans easier for small businesses to obtain, according to the Fed’s new quarterly survey released Monday. Get the full story »
More credit card fees ahead
Less than a year after the passage of new laws limiting banks’ ability to impose certain fees on credit and debit cards, Bank of America Corp., Discover Financial Services, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and other lenders are using different tactics to boost their fee income.
Some are raising minimum payments on certain customers’ accounts in order to increase late penalties. Others are ramping up credit-protection insurance programs and charging customers for coverage without permission. Still others are pushing aggressively into high-fee prepaid cards, which are exempt from most of the new rules. Get the full story »
Chase to stop issuing new debit rewards cards
Chase plans to stop issuing new debit rewards cards in February. An executive from the bank disclosed the plans Thursday at a banking event.
A Chase spokesman said Friday that the bank is still reviewing the program for existing debit reward customers. Get the full story »
Bernanke defends Fed from global critics
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday defended the U.S. central bank’s bond-buying against beggar-thy-neighbor criticism, saying it was “critical” for global stability that the U.S. economy regain its strength.
Doing so, he suggested, would bolster a dollar whose weakness has sparked cries of foul from Bogota to Beijing.
The U.S. central bank’s decision to buy $600 billion of government debt has drawn scathing comments from a host of nations who contend it is generating global instability by ramping up their currencies against the dollar, inflating asset bubbles and stoking inflation in their economies. Get the full story »
Fifth Third Bank beefs up executive ranks
Fifth Third Bank, which ranks eighth in deposit market share in the Chicago area, has made four new hires in the local market.
Emilio Di Cesare, 35, previously assistant vice president for HSBC, has been named vice president and business banking relationship manager. The graduate of DePaul University and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business lives in Roselle. Get the full story »
Fed may let strong banks hike dividends
The Federal Reserve is expected soon to allow some healthy banks with strong capital levels to increase dividend payments, according to people familiar with the decision.
The updated guidance from the Fed is likely a few weeks away. The Fed is expected to take a conservative approach in deciding which banks can increase dividends and assess each bank individually, according to a person familiar with the matter. Get the full story »
FDIC: MB Financial only Broadway Bank bidder
Broadway Bank, the lender once owned by the family of losing U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, attracted only one bidder when it failed in April, newly released records from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. show. Get the full story »
FirstMerit ready for more Illinois bank failures
FirstMerit, the Akron-based bank that has become a Top 20 player in the Chicago area through three recent acquisitions, said it expects the pace of Illinois bank failures to pick up again. Get the full story »
FDIC sues failed Ill. bank’s execs over losses
The FDIC sued 11 former executives and directors at a failed Illinois bank on Monday, part of the regulator’s efforts to recover more than $1 billion of losses in its deposit insurance fund.
The lawsuit accuses former officials at Heritage Community Bank of negligence, gross negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp is planning to sue more than 50 officers and directors of failed banks to help replenish its deposit insurance fund, a spokesman for the regulator said. Get the full story »
Charter One lays off ‘handful’ in Illinois
Charter One, a Royal Bank of Scotland Group unit that’s the 12th biggest deposit gatherer in the Chicago area, said it has laid off a “handful” of Illinois employees after a review of its commercial real estate lending division. Get the full story »
AIG to get $22B in TARP funds for restructuring
The U.S. Treasury said on Monday that bailed-out insurer American International Group will draw up to $22 billion in Treasury funds to facilitate its restructuring and prepare for an eventual government exit. Get the full story »
Goldman to China: Allow stronger yuan
China should let the yuan rise further to help its transition toward a consumption-based economy, although there is no clear evidence the currency is undervalued, a senior executive at Goldman Sachs said on Monday.
Higher inflation in China had contributed to rises in the yuan’s real exchange rate, said Jim O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs asset management. Get the full story »
