Chris Cumming

Promontory Financial vowed to take the New York Department of Financial Services to court after it effectively banned the consulting firm from working on regulatory issues for banks the department supervises.

Firing or cutting the pay of fraudulent or reckless bankers will go a lot further toward restoring the reputation of financial services than any new regulations, according to a reform-minded group of bankers and regulators.

Retailers' repeated efforts to get courts to reject two class-action settlements get boosted by news that attorneys were exchanging confidential client documents throughout the negotiations.

Retailers had made repeated efforts to reject two class-action settlements — one with Visa and MasterCard, one with Amex — to no avail, but a well-publicized scandal involving lawyer conduct has swept up both cases and given the critics a real shot at scuttling them.

Capital One Financial in McLean, Va., took a beating in the stock market Friday, the day after it reported dismal second-quarter results and announced a wave of la

Discover Financial Services is ready to take a few steps — measured, tentative, exhaustively analyzed steps — down the credit spectrum, its chief executive said.

Capital One Financial reported quarterly profit that fell well short of analysts' forecasts due to a high loan-loss provision, restructuring charges and a legal reserve in the United Kingdom.

Tough competition for loans and ever-stronger credit quality has Discover CEO David Nelms considering a move down the credit spectrum toward more subprime consumers.

Discover Financial Services in Riverwoods, Ill., continued its run of quarterly profit declines in the second quarter, due primarily to higher costs for compliance, marketing and customer rewards.

Discover Financial Services in Riverwoods, Ill., continued its run of quarterly profit declines in the second quarter, due primarily to higher costs for compliance, marketing and customer rewards.

New York Community Bancorp in Westbury reported a modest increase in quarterly profit that included asset sales.

Regional banks are reporting strong commercial loan growth as they have for so many quarters. Yet this time it looks like more of the growth is coming from existing clients, and there are also some early warnings about credit challenges.

Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., showed strong consumer loan growth in the second quarter but fell slightly short of analysts' quarterly estimates as its margins declined.

What asset threshold? Community banks may not be required by law to conduct stress tests, but about one in three have been asked by their examiners to do so, according to a recent survey of banks.

M&T, PNC, SunTrust and other regionals reported strong fee growth thanks to inroads they have made in investment banking, wealth management and other areas. It couldn't have come at a better time for them.

Citigroup's second-quarter profit got a modest boost from Citi Holdings, a unit set up six years ago as a dumping ground for toxic assets. After losing billions for years, Citi Holdings has now become a minor profit source for its parent.

Upstart, a marketplace lender founded by ex-Google employees, has more than doubled its funding after receiving an investment from a group led by activist hedge-fund investor Dan Loeb. The company plans to use the funds to improve its underwriting analytics.

Bank of America is trumpeting the doubling of its profits in the second quarter as a payoff from its long cleanup efforts. But the results relied mainly on lower legal costs and expense savings, while revenue declined in four key business lines.

Commercial real estate lending and mortgages are banks' main source of hope to beat lukewarm expectations for the earnings season that begins Tuesday.

Greg Carmichael, a former IT executive, has been tapped to lead Fifth Third Bancorp, a move showing the growing importance of technology in banks' operations. He'll have to find new ways to grow revenue as he succeeds Kevin Kabat, under whom profitability has sagged recently.