Communities First Financial in Fresno, Calif., has a new chief executive.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Investar Holding in Baton Rouge, La., has made a series of changes to its executive ranks.

Acquisitions would seem to be a logical course of action for regional banks struggling to cut costs and boost revenues in the low interest rate environment, but some bank chief executives are less open to the idea than others as comments by the heads of First Horizon and SunTrust demonstrate.

General Electric plans to ask early next year for relief from heightened regulatory scrutiny, while its former credit card arm says that it won't be subject to the same stress-testing rules as most banks its size.

The agency's staff is already working on a new regulation that would easing access to capital, an issue that makes bankers very nervous.

BofI Holding in San Diego is poised to end a tumultuous week, after a lawsuit accusing it of lax controls sent investors scurrying.

Citigroup has launched a unit in its global consumer bank dedicated to the development of its mobile banking services and promoted Heather Cox to be its CEO.

Consumer confidence in October remained flat amid concerns about slower growth in the labor market and across the broader economy.

A proposed class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday accusing debt-buying giant Portfolio Recovery Associates of abusing U.S. courts by filing collection lawsuits against tens of thousands of consumers based on false affidavits.

Webster Financial in Waterbury, Conn., reported a higher third-quarter profit on growth in deposit and loan fees related to its acquisition of health savings accounts.

Sound growth plans, not quirks of geography, define this year’s class of community bank all-stars.

EMV card technology has fully replaced traditional magnetic stripe cards in virtually all developed countries except the U.S. In these markets, it's proven to be an effective technology to reduce fraud for card-present transactions, forcing fraudsters to migrate to areas that have not adopted a chip-based payment system.

SunTrust Banks in Atlanta reported a lower third-quarter profit, citing negative effects from the low interest rate environment.

The Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act became law 10 years ago this week. The law was the culmination of a bipartisan push in Congress to change a system that seemed to encourage bankruptcy filings during a time of prosperity. It is reasonable to ask, a decade later, whether reform worked.

The changes made 10 years ago reduced abusive bankruptcies and made our nation's economy more resilient. If Congress had gone further by regulating attorney fees and increasing penalties for fraud, the economy would be that much stronger.

The reform has returned bankruptcy to its intended function as a last resort for consumers, rather than a way for the wealthy to game the system at everyone else's expense.

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles reported a higher third-quarter profit, citing new lending and lower expenses.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau backed off some of its initial plans in its final rule requiring lenders to collect more data from mortgage borrowers, but industry representatives warned the agency had not gone far enough.

NCAL Bancorp in Irvine, Calif., has agreed to buy Commercial Bank of California in Los Angeles.