BB&T to repurchase up to 50 million shares of common stock
BB&amp;T has announced a plan to repurchase up to 50 million shares of common stock over the next few years, beginning on July 1st. It has already received federal approval to spend $820mn during the next year to repurchase shares. &nbsp; This move follows the bank's strong financial performance and a string of acquisitions, including the Bank of Kentucky last week and the upcoming purchase of Susquehanna Bank - a $2.5bn deal that is expected to take place in the next quarter. BB&amp;T is also due to launch on 1st July plans to offer a flat fee to compensate dealers for arranging customers' auto loans and prohibit dealer markups on those loans. &nbsp;This move has been applauded by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) stating that it was encouraging to see BB&amp;T "taking this proactive step to protect customers from discrimination".
BB&T Dealer Finance plans to launch a program on Wednesday, July 1, that will offer a flat fee to compensate dealers for arranging customers' auto loans, and prohibit dealer markups on those loans.

BB&T spokesman Brian Davis said that the company is contacting its dealer clients to explain the program, but he would not disclose the size of the flat fee.

"We've been testing and evaluating flat-fee products for the last two years, so we believe this is a good long-term business decision for both consumers and our dealer partners," Davis told Automotive News in an email.

BB&T Dealer Finance, a unit of BB&T Dealer Financial Services in Greensboro, N.C., had 3,903 active auto dealers as of May 31, including 3,525 franchised new-vehicle dealers, he said.

The new program does not apply to Regional Acceptance Corp., a segment of BB&T Dealer Financial Services that specializes in subprime financing and has never allowed dealer markup, he said.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has said that dealerships' discretion in setting their own amounts of dealer reserve -- the share of a car buyer's interest rate that the dealership earns for arranging the loan -- results in minorities and other legally protected groups being charged higher rates than other borrowers with similar credit, even if no discrimination was intended. The bureau has urged lenders to switch to flat fees to eliminate the risk of such actual, if inadvertent, discrimination.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray applauded BB&T's pullout from dealer reserve. "It is encouraging to see BB&T taking this proactive step to protect consumers from discrimination," he wrote in an emailed statement. "When people go to buy a car, they should not have to worry whether they'll pay more for their auto loan because of their race, gender, or ethnic background."

Dealers, though, say that eliminating dealer reserve will harm consumers. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference last month, Andy Crews, CEO of AutoFair, a Manchester, N.H., dealership group, said that if the industry were forced to go to flat rates, "we'd be auction houses, going to the lender with the highest flat," rather than to the lender whose package best served the consumer's needs.