* Abilene, Texas-based First Financial Bankshares agreed to acquire Bryan, Texas-based TB&T Bancshares and its unit Bank and Trust of Bryan/College Station. The purchase price was established based on a $30.28 price per share of First Financial Bankshares common stock and totaled $190 million as of the close of business on the day both parties agreed to pricing. The deal is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2020.
* Elsewhere in Mississippi, BancPlus Corp. is acquiring in-state peer State Capital in a transaction valued at about $136.5 million in the aggregate, or $38.75 per State Capital share. Based on financial data as of June 30, the combined company will have approximately $4.2 billion in assets, deposits of $3.7 billion and gross loans of $3.1 billion.
* S&P Global Ratings expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to announce a third rate cut in December in contrast to the Fed dot plot median Fed funds forecast, which projects rates to remain on hold through next year. The rating agency noted that its forecast is contingent upon incoming economic data and assumes a further global growth slowdown due to increased geopolitical and trade tensions.
* The effects of the current expected credit loss, or CECL, accounting standard might be more significant for larger bank M&A deals due to the "double-count" issue of the credit risk for non-purchase credit deteriorated, or non-PCD, assets. While there is some disagreement as to whether the non-PCD issue represents a double-count of credit risk, it appears that the matter will affect key deal metrics and that larger deals will see a more pronounced impact.
* The National Credit Union Administration Board approved a final rule enabling federal credit unions to offer an additional payday alternative loan option to members. NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood said in a statement that the final Payday Alternative Loan Rule, or PALs II, "is a free-market solution that responds to the need for small-dollar lending in the marketplace." The new rule, which the agency had considered last year, does not replace the existing payday alternatives loan option.
* JPMorgan Chase has set $1 trillion as its next target for client balances at its prime brokerage units, which cater to hedge funds, Bloomberg News reports, citing a company memo. The bank reported a 25% increase in global customer prime balances in 2019 to exceed $500 billion, the memo said.
* KeyCorp Chairman and CEO Beth Mooney will retire May 1, 2020. The company's board appointed Christopher Gorman president and COO and a member of the board, effective immediately.
* Susan Schroeder, executive vice president and head of enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, plans to leave later this year. Jessica Hopper, Deputy Head of Enforcement, has been named the Acting Head of Enforcement.
* Investment management company State Street Global Advisors will expand its low-fee lineup of exchange-traded funds by adding seven more ETFs to its SPDR ETF Suite, InvestmentNews reports. The addition of the ETFs is the company's latest move in response to growing customer focus on fees.
* Former Wedbush Securities investment bankers Joey Warmenhoven and Tom Thiel have recently established JWTT, which they envision will offer services to community banks amid the shift of investment banks' focus to fintech, American Banker reports.
* Due to heightened international regulation to fend off illicit financing, privacy coins, which are a type of digital assets designed to conceal transactions, are finding it difficult to follow additional risk management requirements, Bloomberg News reports.
* Employers Mutual Casualty completed the acquisition of all of the remaining EMC Insurance Group shares that it did not already own for $36.00 apiece.
* Seventeen state insurance regulators approved Centene's pending deal to acquire WellCare Health Plans. The deal is expected to close by the first half of 2020.
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