Bank failures, new CFPB rules and other issues facing investors

By Courtney Hoff Dockerty May 20, 2024, 11:30 a.m. EDT 5 Min Read

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As we approach the halfway point of 2024, many of the current challenges facing the banking industry seem eerily similar to the tumult of last year: We've already seen a bank failure, rising interest rates and a bank CEO pushing back against branch union efforts.

Republic First Bank failed on April 26th, with Fulton Bank assuming Republic First's $6 billion of assets, reminiscent of the banking crisis of 2023, which saw five banks collapse. The bank's parent company, Republic First Bancshares, has been dealing with internal strife since late 2021, when a group of activist investors sought to force a sale of the bank, citing concerns about decisions made by then-CEO Vernon Hill.

Before it failed, the bank's regulatory capital was barely positive, and its equity was more than wiped out when counting its $425 million in "unrealized" losses from its bond investments, according to regulatory data.

Republic First's underwater bond troubles mirrored those at First Republic Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, which both collapsed last spring, said Brian Graham, a partner at Klaros Group. He added that based on unrealized losses, dozens of banks across the country are insolvent or nearly there.

"This dynamic is not limited to Republic First," Graham recently told American Banker's Kyle Campbell. "It's playing out in a whole bunch of other bank balance sheets, even as we speak. This disconnect between the economic reality of how much capital a bank really has and the stated regulatory capital level … is troubling."

Although a federal judge recently blocked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's credit card late fee rule, in preparation for its implementation, Synchrony already hiked customer interest rates to offset the financial challenges the rule would cause.

The CFPB's rule would generally slash the maximum late fee on credit cards to $8, part of the agency's campaign to crack down on so-called "junk fees" in the banking industry. Analysts have said the late-fee cuts would have an outsized impact on Synchrony, which focuses more on everyday card customers rather than those with elite travel cards. The bank's income on late fees last year was roughly $2.7 billion, and CEO Brian Doubles said on an earnings call that he suspects other credit card issues will take the same approach.

Meanwhile, at Wells Fargo's annual shareholder meeting in April, CEO Charlie Scharf responded to unionization efforts occurring within the bank.

"It's important to make clear that we continue to believe that our employees are best served by working directly with Wells Fargo and our leadership team," Scharf said. "We intend to exercise our right to speak with our employees about these matters to make sure that they make informed decisions."

Read more about the recent issues facing the banking industry and what they mean for investors.

Charles "Charlie" Scharf — "It's important to make clear that we continue to believe that our employees are best served by working directly with Wells Fargo and our leadership team," said CEO Charlie Scharf.

Wells Fargo CEO pushed back against recent branch union efforts

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf pushed back against the unionization efforts that some workers have launched, while highlighting ways at the bank's annual shareholder meeting that the megabank helps and listens to its employees. At the meeting, shareholders rejected a proposal to bring on an outside monitor to oversee whether Wells Fargo is infringing on employees' right to organize.

While Wells has more than 4,000 branches across the country, only a handful of branches have chosen to unionize in recent months. Regardless, organizers say they're gaining momentum in an unprecedented effort to unionize one of the country's biggest banks.

Scharf said on April 30 that the bank respects employees' freedom of association and is "committed to bargaining in good faith" with employees who've chosen to unionize their workplaces. But he also emphasized the company won't stand by without making the case that employees are best served by working directly with management.

Republic First fails; Fulton Bank acquires assets, branches

Republic First Bank was shuttered by its state regulator and taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on April 26th, ending the Philadelphia-based bank's yearslong struggle to maintain adequate capital amid a bitter proxy war with investor groups.

Fulton Bank in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, will assume substantially all of Republic First's $6 billion of assets and $4 billion of deposits, according to a statement from the FDIC.

For Old National, 'business as usual' after CFO charged with felonies

The chief executive of Old National Bancorp, James Ryan III, said the bank is "focused on running our business as usual," driving loan growth and integrating a substantial acquisition, despite news earlier this month that it placed its chief financial officer on administrative leave following his March arrest.

"We already have an exceptionally talented finance, accounting and treasury team in place," Ryan said during the company's first-quarter earnings call.

Ryan, along with President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Sander, said that Old National's management has kept its attention on positioning the bank for above-average loan growth while also integrating its acquisition of CapStar, which closed April 1.

The saga of Capital One and Discover's deal

Capital One Financial and Discover Financial Services' pending deal included a lengthy period of negotiations between the companies, where both even walked away at one point, However, the deal was revived, and once approved, it will create the largest credit card lender in the United States.

In the second half of 2023, as Discover was dealing with a series of compliance and operational challenges, investment bankers started inquiring about the company's interest in a potential sale, Capital One said in a securities filing in April. The filing provides new details about how the proposed $35 billion acquisition came together.

Synchrony raises interest rates due to CFPB rule

Synchrony Financial is hiking interest rates it charges to its customers, in an effort to mitigate the financial impact of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would shrink its late-fee revenue.

Synchrony, which offers credit cards in partnership with retailers and other brands, has been raising annual percentage rates and adding other fees to limit the pending CFPB rule's impact on the company's bottom line.

"Our goal from the beginning has been to protect our partners and continue to provide credit to the customers that we do today," CEO Brian Doubles said during the company's quarterly earnings call. "And unfortunately, that's impossible to do without these offsets."

Courtney Hoff Dockerty

Writer, Growth Content, Arizent