Latest banking news

M&T Bank has joined a statewide economic development initiative in Pennsylvania to help revitalize underserved communities. The Buffalo, New York, bank committed $1.2 million to 42 projects throughout Pennsylvania, a market where M&T operates 271 branch and ATM locations, as part of Gov. Tom Wolf's recently approved $36 million Neighborhood Assistance Program. Most of the funding is earmarked for projects in the state's central and southeast regions including an affordable housing initiative in West Philadelphia, a bilingual community-based workforce empowerment center in the city of Lebanon and a small business development program in Kutztown. M&T's commitment comes after the bank announced a five-year, $43 billion community reinvestment plan last October as part of its acquisition of People's United Bank in Bridgeport, Connecticut. — Jordan Stutts

BM Technologies said its deal to acquire First Sound Bank in Seattle will not close this year as planned. When the Radnor, Pennsylvania, financial technology company announced the $23 million agreement to buy the $154 million-asset First Sound in November of 2021, it projected a closing in the second half of this year. But because of heightened regulatory scrutiny, it "is working to resubmit its merger application" and to "respond to questions posed by regulators, with a goal of closing in 2023." "We are committed to combining with a bank and improving our revenues," BM Technologies Chief Executive Luvleen Sidhu said in a press release. — Jim Dobbs

Credit Suisse Group's outlook flagging a fourth-quarter loss, and the ongoing outflows in its wealth management business are "concerning," say analysts at JPMorgan Chase. The Swiss bank warned it will book a loss of up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.6 billion) this quarter, and reported further outflows of wealth management funds amid a slump in client confidence, sending its shares 5% lower toward fresh lows. The bank "is not out of the woods yet in terms of stabilizing the franchise," write analysts led by Kian Abouhossein. He said he was "perplexed" by the material losses in its investment banking division. JPMorgan has a neutral rating on the stock. Credit Suisse is undergoing a sweeping overhaul that will see its investment bank carved up and greater focus placed on private banking, after years of scandals and management missteps. Echoing JPMorgan's view, Vontobel's analyst Andreas Venditti says "the massive net outflows in wealth management, CS's core business alongside the Swiss bank, are deeply concerning — even more so as they have not yet reversed." The lender said that as of Nov. 11, net asset outflows were about 6% of the assets under management at the end of the third quarter. That's equivalent to approximately 84 billion Swiss francs in outflows across wealth and asset management. — Macarena Muñoz and Allegra Catelli, Bloomberg News, with assistance from Thyagaraju Adinarayan.