Banking news roundup, March 24, 2023

Banking turmoil changes Fed’s course on rates

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

The Federal Reserve opted for a minimal interest rate increase and adjusted its outlooks for future hikes during its Federal Open Market Committee meeting this week. The new forward guidance shows the Fed plan to stop raising rates at its next meeting in May. The change of tack was driven by two bank failures this month and broad uncertainty in the banking sector. Many had called for the Fed to ease up on its inflation battle to preserve financial stability. Instead, the central bank said the financial tightening caused by the turmoil merely compressed its timeline. —Kyle Campbell

Lindsay Lohan runs afoul of the SEC for crypto work

Bloomberg News

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Lindsay Lohan and several other celebrities for marketing crypto assets without disclosing they were compensated for their work. Boxer Jake Paul, pop stars Soulja Boy, Akon and Ne-Yo were also charged, among others. The charges are related to Justin Sun, who refers to himself as a crypto entrepreneur and owns several crypto companies, such as Tron Foundation and BitTorrent. The SEC said the celebrities used social media to entice investors to purchase crypto while hiding the fact that they were paid to do so. Lohan's representatives told Yahoo News the actress paid the SEC to settle the charges. Yahoo reported several other celebrities also paid fines to the SEC, totaling more than $400,000. —John Adams

Amazon adds 'palm pay' to Panera Bread

Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

Amazon has deployed payment technology that enables consumers to use their palms to pay at two Panera Bread locations in St. Louis. Consumers use stored biometric images of their palms to make payments, with links to Panera's merchant funded reward program. It's part of Amazon One, a checkout system that has been deployed in some Whole Foods locations, Amazon Go stores and sports facilities. Panera, which is headquartered in St. Louis, plans to add Amazon's palm payment technology to other locations in its 2,000 store network, according to CNBC. Amazon's development has led to dozens of technology companies to build checkout alternatives to enable merchant chains to compete with Amazon's encroachment on brick and mortar retail. Amazon also sells its technology to other merchants, as is the case with Panera. —John Adams

Jefferson Bank extends its Texas footprint to Austin

Adobe Stock

Jefferson Bank in San Antonio, Texas, said this week it expanded into the Austin market with a new commercial banking center and office in the city's downtown business district. The $2.9 billion-asset bank said in a press release that it will provide commercial lending and treasury management, along with services such as private banking and wealth management. Jefferson said its Austin team is projected to grow commercial loans by $100 million this year and $500 million in the first five years. "We believe in investing in the communities we serve and are committed to putting our customers at the forefront of everything we do," Jon Rebello, Jefferson's Austin market president, said in the release. —Jim Dobbs

Kinecta Federal Credit Union names new chief lending officer

Kinecta Federal Credit Union in Manhattan Beach, California, has named Jason Pendergist as its next senior vice president and chief lending officer. The $6.7 billion-asset credit union announced that Pendergist, who was most recently head of commercial banking for the $12.8 billion-asset Security Service Federal Credit Union in San Antonio, Texas, succeeded Mike Squire in February. Squire has transitioned into the roles of senior vice president and chief experience officer. "Jason's proven leadership in regional and community banking and his expertise in consumer and commercial lending are well suited to help us meet the needs of our members," Keith Sultemeier, president and chief executive of Kinecta, said in a Mar. 17 press release. —Frank Gargano

Former SVB bankers join Stifel Financial

Sophie Park/Bloomberg

Three people who worked with Silicon Valley Bank are joining Stifel Financial Corp. The investment bank hired Jacob Moseley, Matt Trotter and Ted Wilson — all based in the San Francisco Bay area — as managing directors in Stifel's venture banking business. The trio "represent the best in banking," Stifel chairman and CEO Ron Kruszewski said in a statement. The new hires joined Stifel after SVB reported securities losses and an inability to raise capital, setting off a deposit run that led to the bank's collapse and takeover by the federal government. SVB's failure also led to a takeover of Signature Bank and rescue attempts by banking leaders to shore up First Republic Bank. —Jordan Stutts

BMO welcoming new participants for its women-focused accelerator

Bank of Montreal signage is displayed outside a branch in Vancouver.

Bloomberg News

BMO Financial Group is now accepting applications for its annual WMNfintech accelerator program for women-founded and women-led startups in North America. The accelerator was developed with 1871, a private business incubator in Chicago. The five companies that are selected to participate will attend workshops, pitch investors and BMO partners for feedback and funding, and more. Several WMNfintech startups have gone on to partner with BMO. They include SpringFour, a cloud-based platform of financial resources that companies can recommend to their clients, and Hope Trust, which helps people with special needs and their families craft digital plans detailing medical, legal, financial and other priorities. —Miriam Cross

Ally Financial hires Goldman Sachs veteran as CFO

Goldman Sachs veteran Russell Hutchinson is taking over the chief financial officer position at Ally Financial in July. Hutchinson will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the $191.8 billion-asset bank is headquartered, according to a statement announcing the hire. Bradley Brown, who's served as Ally's interim CFO since October 2022, will return to his full-time role as corporate treasurer once Hutchinson begins in July, the statement said. At Goldman Sachs, Hutchinson previously served as chief operating officer for global mergers and acquisitions. He also spent two decades working in the company's investment banking division, advising clients including Ally on the specialty finance sector. —Jordan Stutts