How have community banks fared with retaining market share in their traditional strongholds of rural areas and small towns? The latest FDIC Summary of Deposits shows their leads in those areas may be slowly slipping away for a host of competitive reasons.

The House Oversight Committee, which earlier this year admonished the Department of Justice over its tactics for combating fraud in the payments system, has turned its focus to the role of the Federal Trade Commission in the ongoing crackdown.

Madison Bank of Maryland in Forest Hill plans to convert from a mutual thrift to a stock-owned institution. The thrift plans to raise about $24 million as part of its conversion, using the proceeds to fund lending and increase capital levels, according to a regulatory filing.

Former "American Idol" star Clay Aiken will face incumbent Renee Ellmers in a congressional debate hosted by the North Carolina Bankers Association.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau responded Friday to collection law firm Frederick J. Hanna & Associates' motion to dismiss a lawsuit that charges the firm with operating a collection lawsuit mill. Parts of the response likely will draw the collection industry's ire.

H&R Block, for the second time in a year, is finding it challenging to get out of banking.

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The $7.8 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing Friday that it had sold performing mortgages with outstanding balances of roughly $193 million to First BanCorp, also in San Juan.

Valley Community Bank's biggest shareholder has gone public with his objection to the Pleasanton, Calif., bank's sale to FNB Bancorp in San Francisco.

BEO Bancorp in Heppner, Ore., has agreed to buy Bank Reale, in Pasco, Wash. A purchase price for the cash-and-stock deal was not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter.

Greer State Bank in Greer, S.C., has eliminated its chief banking officer position, according to a regulatory filing.

The Golden State is home to nearly a quarter of the banks on Sandler O'Neill's annual list of the top-performing small-cap institutions, a hint that the state could be returning to its pre-recession strength. Banks in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic also had strong performances.

Citigroup said Javier Arrigunaga resigned as chief executive officer of Grupo Financiero Banamex, the company's Mexican subsidiary. Ernesto Torres Cantu was named to succeed him.

It's time for the Federal Housing Finance Agency to make good on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's funding obligations to two affordable housing programs.

Deutsche Bank officials have received the go-ahead to finance U.S. home lenders, something it has not done since the financial crisis. The bank's plan is to finance a small, but potentially much larger, mortgage segment that falls outside government standards.

The cryptocurrency software provider KnCMiner has created a new Bitcoin wallet for iPhone users.

National Australia Bank is looking to sell more than a quarter of its holdings in Great Western Bancorp as part of the Sioux Fall, S.D., company's planned initial public offering.

A federal judge has dismissed an FDIC lawsuit against directors and officers of a failed North Carolina bank. The ruling has big implications for future cases that seek to hold senior bank management accountable for financial crisis-era failures.

The Louisiana company agreed to buy Florida Bank Group in a deal that will allow it to enter Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Tampa. It is the latest deal for a bank that has been an aggressive acquirer this year.

Southside Bancshares in Tyler, Texas, is getting out of subprime auto lending.