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Summary Loan losses revive U.S. bank M&A talks Auto bankruptcies deepen credit market fears Bank boards have been discussing deals as regulatory landscape shifts M&A timeline among regional banks could accelerate NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Jitters around U.S. banks' exposure to loan losses have fueled expectations for more mergers and acquisitions as big buyers may be spurred to look to absorb smaller or weaker rivals, according to four senior industry sources. More than two years after the sudden failure of Silicon Valley Bank that destabilized the industry, auto company collapses and bad loans have hurt bank stocks in...

Regional bank stocks tumbled on Thursday after Zions Bancorp said it would write off fraudulent loans made to two borrowers, adding to investors’ fears about lending standards and stress in credit markets. Zions Bancorp (ZION) on Thursday said it had recently identified “what it believes to be apparent misrepresentations and contractual defaults” by two borrowers. As a result, it plans to write off $50 million of the $60 million outstanding on the affected loans. Shares of Zions dropped 13% on Thursday, leading regional banks lower. The KBW Regional Banking Index fell 6%. The recent bankruptcies of two companies in the...

Financial problems at the maker of spark plugs, wiper blades, brake calipers, brake shoes, tow hitches and motor oil has caused intense anxiety on Wall Street in recent weeks. Car parts are not usually something that causes finance chiefs to lose much sleep. But the potentially multi-billion dollar financial crisis surrounding First Brands has them rattled. As ever in finance, it’s what investors don’t know that scares the most, and with First Brands, there appears to be plenty. What is First Brands?First Brands was founded by the Malaysian-born businessman Patrick James. Starting life as Ohio-based Crowne Group, James acquired Trico,...

Since it filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 29, auto-parts supplier First Brands has come under intense scrutiny for alleged accounting malpractice, opaque financing agreements, and late payments to suppliers. In an effort to shed light into the company’s murky finances, one of First Brands’ largest creditors filed an emergency motion in bankruptcy court on Wednesday calling for an independent investigation into the beleaguered firm’s books. As much as $2.3 billion in short-term financing has “simply vanished,” wrote Richard Jacobsen, counsel for Raistone, a fund that is partly owned by O’Connor, a UBS hedge fund. Raistone said it was owed at...