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Freddie Mac is selling more than $1 billion of soured U.S. home loans in its largest sale of the debt. Potential buyers are bidding on three pools of nonperforming loans, with unpaid principal balances of about $660 million, $249 million and $125 million.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial in Bedminster, N.J., has agreed to buy Wealth Management Consultants in Morristown, N.J.

Ohio's largest mutual bank is planning to form a holding company to position itself for acquisitions and other growth opportunities.

Signature Bank in New York has opened a private banking office in Greenwich, Conn.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the best way to instill ethical culture and what the U.S. can learn from foreign countries' efforts to reach the unbanked.

The usefulness of in-store branches is a hotly debated topic in the banking industry. But some institutions are successfully landing customers — and increasingly valuable deposits — through such locations.

Bank of New York Mellon is building out a new investment firm with the mortgage specialist Amherst Holdings. The move is its second major commitment to a fixed income-related fund this year.

An Illinois federal court dismissed a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case that involved a collection account number being visible on an envelope containing a debt collection letter. The decision goes against a high-profile collection case ruling last year.

Unifund Group has acquired First Resolution Investment Corp., including all assets and an estimated 72,000 accounts with a face value of $1 billion.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a contentious policy Thursday allowing customers to describe their banking experiences more fully on the agency's complaint portal.

Citigroup's failure to pay 24,000 people owed money as part of a settlement with the government over foreclosure abuses has prompted Maxine Waters, the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, to call for an investigation into whether banks missed other borrowers.

The CFPB wants to expand banks' data reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. But this would impose even greater costs upon local financial institutions that are already overburdened by regulation.

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling has received a grant award totaling $2.3 million from NeighborWorks America to support foreclosure prevention efforts through its Member Agencies.

Alongside the requisite ATMs and tablet-bearing salespeople, a New York credit union has installed touchscreens where customers can visualize a path to realizing their financial goals. Wells Fargo is taking a similar approach to credit education online.

The long-standing practice of banks and mortgage lenders paying real estate brokers and homebuilders for referrals could soon be coming to an end.

To shake off years of sluggish growth, Citizens Financial is going hard after asset classes that other banks are starting to back away from. The Providence, R.I., company says the growth opportunity outweighs the risk.

The agency's interpretation of a Respa rule could put an end to the long-standing practice of mortgage lenders paying real estate agents and homebuilders to send business their way.

Ally Financial in Detroit announced its second big management change in less than two months.

U.S. Bancorp has hired a former Santander Bank executive to oversee the diversified industries segment of its large corporate banking division in New England.