Thomas O'Brien has gained a reputation for being able to salvage institutions on the brink of disaster. With his latest rescue job nearly complete, the fix-it specialist ponders his next move.

Chief Executive Andy Cecere is among the defendants in a shareholder lawsuit that alleges that top officials at the Minneapolis bank profited from the concealment of employee misconduct. A U.S. Bancorp spokesperson denied the allegations.

The three former Washington Federal Bank for Savings board members were accused of giving the OCC false information in an attempt to hide embezzlement. They could face up to five years in prison for attempting to deceive the OCC.

In the wake of destruction across Maui, financial institutions based inside and outside of Hawaii are establishing support programs, raising relief funds and facilitating donations of food and clothing.

Right now it's every bank for themselves when it comes to translating financial disclosures into languages other than Spanish. The process comes with a number of challenges, such as ensuring all customers can understand the information despite nuances in the different Chinese dialects.

In his new book, "The Song of Significance," Seth Godin, a business management author, dives into how executives can rethink being profit driven and help create meaning in the work for employees.

"Smart" contracts enable the Chicago-based trust bank to carry out deals without intermediaries, while archiving details on transactions that can be useful later. Experts say other banks could follow despite the complexities of cutting-edge technology and the risk of being hacked.

The company is rolling out a special-purpose credit program to help address what it describes as "the biggest barriers to achieving homeownership." Such programs are gaining popularity among banks.

Citizens Bank of Edmond in Oklahoma, in conjunction with the digital-banking platform Narmi, recently launched an account-opening process that occurs completely online. The project, completed in less than three months, could be a model for community banks that want to innovate but fear being a low priority for vendors.

The Wilmington, Delaware, bank announced this week that it had purchased Bell Rock Capital. WSFS' management says that legal troubles involving that investment advisory firm's founder won't affect the transaction.

The $1.6 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that its directors "voted to terminate" Kevin Lycklama's employment. Dan Cox, chief credit officer, was named as acting president and CEO.

The deal with private equity firm KKR follows an earlier announced sale of $1.3 billion in medical office loans. The Columbus, Georgia-based company has said it's "proactively optimizing the balance sheet" to position itself for long-term growth.

The nearly $81 million plan to buy Community Financial Group in Spokane, Washington, would mark the 13th acquisition in the past decade for Glacier. The Montana-based bank has more than tripled in size during that time.

The real threat is from undercapitalized banks, and regulators must require large banks to have enough capital to eliminate that threat.

Bankers say regulatory burden, rising costs and intensifying competition will reignite a drive for scale and spur dealmaking provided interest rates level off and the economic outlook improves.

U.S. consumers set a new record during the second quarter, as card debt reached $1.03 trillion. Bankers say a healthy job market has allowed consumers to keep making their monthly payments, but they're also on guard about the impact of the upcoming resumption of federal student loan payments.

Texas State Bankshares has agreed to buy Estrada Hinojosa & Co., one of the nation's biggest municipal underwriting and advisory firms.

The Vancouver, Washington, company disclosed in a regulatory filing that Kevin Lycklama was under investigation. It elaborated only to say that the matter did not involve the bank's financial condition.

India's Unified Payments Interface has been an extraordinary success. The Fed should take careful note of how the system came to dominate the Indian economy.

Kansas Banking Commissioner David Herndon told American Banker that his agency declared Heartland Tri-State Bank insolvent because of a "very sudden" event that crippled the bank financially.