Nearly all C-level bank executives in a new survey said they expect their institutions to grow in 2025. The survey by accounting firm Wipfli found that 97% of bank executives expected growth in the next 12 months, with 58% anticipating asset growth of at least 5%. By contrast, only 36% of executives anticipated their institutions would grow by at least 5% last year.

From AI and crypto to complex regulatory challenges and increasingly diverse markets, bank executives face increasingly complex strategic decisions, and so do bank boards. Veteran bank board members and executives Jenn Docherty and Virginia Varela discuss how bank boards can position their banks for success in a challenging environment.

Amid a raft of state efforts to undermine national bank preemption, the OCC needs to make a proactive case for dual banking.

With numerous lawsuits on industry regulations and aggressive actions by regulators to issue rules before the end of the year, your ABA Banking Journal editorial team has had an incredibly busy year. Our team published 1,385 short Newsbytes stories, as well as numerous web and print features, to keep the industry informed. Presented here are the top 10 most-read items published on the Banking Journal website this year.

International banking standards affect all parts of the economy. We need a broad range of perspectives to inform standard-setting.

Marketers' top objectives: deposit growth, fueled by new customer acquisition, deepening existing customer relationships and improved retention.

One of the challenging characteristics about our industry is that it is always changing. So it follows that what we need from bank leaders is constantly evolving, too.

The ABA and several industry and consumer groups are asking the Federal Housing Administration to extend the expiration date for pandemic-related protections for borrowers while it considers their revisions to a proposed replacement for the program.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it has officially recognized the Financial Data Exchange as a standard-setting body under the bureau’s financial data-sharing regulation. FDX is the first organization to be given recognition.

Several new faces have joined the House Financial Services Committee for the 119th Congress. The committee will be chaired by Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) remaining a ranking member. 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it will pursue rulemaking to allow it to regulate large nonbanks that provide personal loans. The proposed rulemaking is in response to a petition filed by the Consumer Bankers Association and Center for Responsible Lending.

Higher-than-expected readings on inflation, along with expected changes in U.S. policy on trade and immigration, suggest to several Federal Open Market Committee members that it may take longer than originally anticipated for the Federal Reserve to reach its target of 2% inflation, according to minutes from the FOMC’s Dec. 17-18 meeting.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Treasury Department today announced they will delete provisions in the preferred stock purchase agreements governing the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that were previously suspended after multiple groups raised concerns about their effects on housing markets.