Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, plans to close 34 branches early next year. The $187 billion-asset company said that 11 of the branches are located inside Cub stores around Minneapolis, according to published reports. Another seven branches are in Ohio and nine are in Michigan. The closures represent about 3% of Huntington’s total branch network. "We regularly review our distribution network ... to meet our customers' evolving needs," Kris Dahl,

Hope Bancorp in Los Angeles announced a cost-cutting plan that includes an undisclosed number of layoffs. The $20.1 billion-asset company said in a press release that the goal is to reduce annual expenses by $40 million with about 85% coming from layoffs. The plan includes reduced staffing, branch closures, the wind-down of noncore businesses and “operational process improvements.” Hope said it expects to incur $12 million in one-time charges during

Quarterly profit at Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., took a hit after another large instance of check fraud. The $153.6 billion-asset company disclosed in a press release that it incurred $53 million of losses in the third quarter tied to a check fraud scheme that occurred in the prior quarter. Regions didn’t discover the scheme until the third quarter; executives said during a conference call to discuss quarterly earnings that

Macatawa Bank Corp. in Holland, Mich., will have a new CEO next month. The $2.6 billion-asset company said in a press release that Jon Swets will also become president on Nov. 1, succeeding the retiring Ronald Haan. Swets, who joined Macatawa in 2002, has been the company’s chief financial officer. The company said Bryan Barker, senior accounting and reporting manager, will become CFO. Haan, who has been president and CEO

Metropolitan Bank Holding in New York will pay $30 million in penalties to address claims it had deficient third-party risk management practices and violated customer identification rules of the Bank Secrecy Act. The Federal Reserve and New York Department of Financial Services each hit the $6.3 billion-asset bank with $15 million penalties. The regulators had alleged that Metropolitan, in 2020, opened prepaid card accounts for “illicit actors” who then used

Ameris Bancorp has settled Department of Justice claims that the Atlanta company violated fair lending laws in Jacksonville, Fla., from 2016 to 2021. The $25.8 billion-asset Ameris said in a press release that its bank agreed to a consent order and will provide $7.5 million of mortgage subsidies over the next five years in majority Black and Hispanic markets. The bank also committed $900,000 for focused advertising and outreach and

F.N.B. Corp. in Pittsburgh reported higher earnings despite fully charging off a large commercial loan. The $45 billion-asset company said in a press release that its earnings rose by 2% from the second quarter and by 5.8% from a year earlier, to $143.3 million. The third quarter loan-loss provision included $18.8 million tied to a $31.9 million loan that was plagued by alleged fraud. F.N.B. downgraded the loan to nonperforming

Guaranty Capital in Belzoni, Miss., has agreed to buy Lafayette Bancorp in Oxford, Miss. The $2.3 billion-asset Guaranty said in a press release that it expects to complete its purchase of the $245 million-asset parent of Oxford University Bank in the first quarter. The price wasn’t disclosed. “We are pleased to partner with Oxford University Bank, a well-respected bank serving the Oxford and Pontotoc communities,” Hue Townsend, Guaranty’s president and