Regional Banks Can’t Catch a Break

Regional bank stocks were further discounted this past week. But acquirers might be waiting for them to go on clearance.

It isn’t hard to find some positive indicators for regional banks’ business right now. For one, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Thursday said that its plan to make up for losses in the deposit insurance fund would charge banks based on their amount of uninsured deposits above $5 billion at the end of last year—which tilts the cost toward larger banks. That could help smaller banks offer more-competitive deposit rates.