* Starting in July, BlackRock is lowering the price on the iShares S&P 500 Fund to $1.25 from $4 for every $10,000 for certain investors, The Wall Street Journal reports.

* Sutherland, Iowa-based Old O'Brien Banc Shares is seeking to merge with Elma, Iowa-based R & J Financial.

* Iowa-based Pella Financial Group filed an application to acquire Iowa State Savings Bank.

* Missouri-based Bethany Bankshares applied to merge with in-state peer Fairport Bancshares.

* Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the regulator will not lift the asset cap it enforced on Wells Fargo until the regulator is satisfied with the bank's progress in fixing its risk management operations.

* The Fed expects to conclude the asset reductions of its $4 trillion balance sheet at the end of September, by which time it will have a little more than $3.5 trillion in assets. The Fed also kept its interest rate unchanged and signaled that the next rate hike may not come until 2020.

* The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing several reforms for business development companies and registered closed-funds. The reforms include improving access to capital and modifying the registration, communication and offering processes available to these companies.

* The SEC also voted to adopt amendments simplifying disclosure requirements for public companies, investment advisers and investment companies.

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