Fintech

Membership at the Virginia credit union has grown rapidly in recent years, including an 11% spurt in the first half of this year, thanks to a charter switch, heavy marketing spending and generous deposit rates.

The three-month London interbank offered rate for dollars climbed to a nearly 14-year high as traders brace for steady interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, backing away from speculation the central bank will ease up as the economy shows signs of cooling. 

Toronto-Dominion Bank agreed to buy the U.S. brokerage Cowen Inc. for $1.3 billion in cash, bulking up its presence in American capital markets just months after striking a historic deal to expand its retail operations in the country.

Citigroup is planning a 500-person hiring spree over the next three years for a new wealth division catering to junior employees at private equity offices, consultancies and accounting firms, betting those clients will someday join the ranks of the ultrawealthy. 

Within two years, the credit-card company expects to employ more than 1,000 people from a historically disadvantaged part of the city.

Data as of Mar. 31, 2022. Dollars in thousands.

The last time inflation burned hot, consumers could put money in the bank and watch it grow like the prices on store shelves, easing much of the pain. Not this time — and that’s stoking profits for U.S. lenders.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell brushed off concerns that rapidly tightening monetary policy could disrupt the financial system. Some economists and policy experts beg to differ, raising concerns about loan defaults or even the collapse of a key institution or counterparty.

The Maryland bank has lost 13% of its credit card customer base in the past year amid a flurry of marketing activity by newer players. But it is refusing to panic.

Citigroup is requiring some of its least-profitable trading clients to post more collateral and is even dropping some of them to help boost returns in its markets business.