Alan Kline

All banks are affected by more stringent regulation, but it is the less-healthy ones that are most likely to throw in the towel because of it.

Already an active lender in the recreational vehicle and lawn and garden industries, TCF Financial Corp. is now looking to make a big splash in the water sports business.

Citigroup Inc. appears to have abandoned its plan to sell its consumer lending unit until the economy improves and it can fetch a better price for it, according to Fitch Ratings Inc.

Under orders to divest branches as a condition of its pending deal with HSBC Bank USA, First Niagara Financial Group Inc. in Buffalo announced early Thursday that it is selling more than three-dozen western New York branches to one of its closest competitors.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is planning to shutter 131 farm lending offices in 32 states as part of a broad mandate from the Obama administration to trim $150 million from its annual budget.

Loan demand may be weak at banks these days, but annuity sales are booming.

Two small Kansas banks that have been fixtures in their rural communities for decades are planning to merge in a bid to improve efficiency and better contend with increasing compliance costs.

Northern Trust Corp. is expected to unveil a major cost-cutting initiative next week and one analyst is predicting that the Chicago custody bank will aim to slash its annual expenses by $175 million.

The Securities and Exchange Commission wants banks and other financial institutions to provide more detail about their exposure to European sovereign debt so that investors would have a clearer picture of the firms' overall health.

Improving credit quality and continued low funding costs lifted Jacksonville Bancorp Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit 5% from the same period in 2010, to $774,000.

Nearing a deal with five large mortgage servicers to settle allegations of misconduct relating to foreclosures, the Justice Department is now asking other banks that could face charges of their own if they would like to get in on the settlement.

Five community banks, including one in Boston that is a designated community development lender, have received "needs to improve" ratings on their most recent Community Reinvestment Act examinations.

Spanish banking giant Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argenteria said Tuesday that it expects to take a goodwill impairment charge of roughly $1.3 billion on its U.S. unit in the fourth quarter due to ongoing concerns about the pace of the economic recovery here.

Wells Fargo & Co. announced Monday that it its board has tapped veteran board member and former General Mills Inc. Chairman Stephen W. Sanger to be its lead director.

Providence Bank in Columbia, Mo., has brought in Kit Stolen 3rd as its new chief executive to oversee the clean-up of its loan portfolio and guide it through its next phase of growth.

With its deal for RBC Bank nearing completion, PNC takes a big step toward goal of reducing overhead by $150 million by early 2013.

A troubled Chicago-area community bank that just received a large capital infusion from its owners is now negotiating to restructure its loan with Cole Taylor Bank as it aims to rebuild its capital reserves.

Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. in Lititz, Pa., is scouting for a new president to run its Baltimore-area operations following the promotion of its current market president to a larger post within the company, the Baltimore Business Journal reported Friday.

He was wrong about Astoria in 2011, but Sandler O'Neill's Mark Fitzgibbon says a focus on multi-family lending and takeover speculation will fuel a run-up in 2012.

Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay nearly $1 million to Maryland residents who lost their homes to foreclosure after receiving so-called "Pick-a-Payment" mortgages originated by lenders Wells later acquired.