Emigrant offers art- and antique-related services that most banks do not. "It's not cost-effective for many of the big banks to invest in the expertise and infrastructure to offer art advisory services or to underwrite loans," says Andy Augenblick, the president of Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance.

Years after they were first launched, in-plan annuities, meant to help retirement-plan participants turn their nest eggs into regular income streams, remain fairly rare.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is proposing a wide-ranging settlement of its outstanding derivatives trades with more than a dozen of its largest counterparties, including some of the biggest banks.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has appeared willing to take its own steps to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but legislation would be necessary to create an explicit guarantee of the mortgage system.

The Indiana company, which has an acquisition pending, will make more loans in minority neighborhoods around Indianapolis.

The interpretation by HUD, conveyed in a letter to Congress by Assistant Secretary Len Wolfson, appeared to contradict the agency's earlier comments about borrowers in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

The National Credit Union Administration can no longer examine third-party vendors and service providers. That leaves the industry vulnerable to cybercriminals and other bad actors.

The FHFA should focus on the facts as it ponders the future of the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., have joined forces to subject regional Fed banks to heightened public scrutiny. How long the coalition lasts depends on what that new scrutiny reveals.