JPMorgan Chase & Co. said profit fell 7.3% in the fourth quarter after $2.6 billion in settlements linked to Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme as legal costs ended a three-year streak of record annual earnings.

The Lafayette, La., bank ended its M&A break Monday by announcing an agreement to buy a nearby rival, Teche Holding. It says more deals are likely, adding to the rise of buyers based in the South.

Waterstone Financial (WSBF) in Wauwatosa, Wis., raised roughly $250 million from the subscription and community offering tied to its second-step conversion.

Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., introduced legislation Monday to address concerns about how collateralized debt obligations backed by trust-preferred securities are treated under the Volcker Rule.

Banks could save money -- and avoid having to sell to, or buy other, banks -- by sharing the costs of compliance checks, account databases and even branch space, a new report from the accounting firm EY suggests.

A 30-hour six-alarm fire ravaged a two-story Citibank branch in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan over the weekend.

A former Washington Mutual executive pleaded guilty in federal court in Bridgeport, Conn., Monday to accepting an illegal kickback.

FNBH Bancorp (FNHM) in Howell, Mich., has raised $16.4 million through a private placement.

Three Missouri businessmen accused of defrauding Excel Bank, which later failed, were arraigned in federal court in St. Louis on Friday.

New York Community Bancorp CEO Joseph Ficalora continues to look for a transformative acquisition to cross $50 billion in assets -- even if it invites extra regulatory scrutiny.

A U.S. district court has halted and frozen the assets of an Orlando, Fla.-based operation that used pre-recorded telephone calls, also known as robocalls, to pitch purportedly free medical alert devices to senior citizens by falsely stating the devices had been purchased for them by a relative or friend.

Instead of trying to blame the Target breach on card companies and drag unrelated issues into the discussion, merchants should work with the payments industry to find solutions.

Coastway Bancorp in Cranston, R.I., expects to complete its conversion to a public holding company by the close of business on Tuesday.

Hawaii National Bank in Honolulu has a new chief financial officer.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's new director, Mel Watt, has appointed four veteran government officials as special advisors.

Patriot National Bancorp (PNBK) in Stamford, Conn., is in the market for a new president and chief executive.

All of the typical measures of mortgage distress continue to improve, according to CoreLogic's National Foreclosure Report for November. The report contains a supplement featuring quarterly shadow inventory data as of October 2013.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to draft rules governing payday lending this year. But the conventional wisdom that will likely guide it is based on false perceptions about the working poor and the best way to serve them. So argues Lisa Servon, a professor at The New School.

Farmers & Merchants Bank (FMBL) in Long Beach, Calif., has hired a chief banking officer, filling a newly created post.

No matter how streamlined my finances have become, there is one regular nuisance: sending money to and from family or friends without the friction that requires recipients to provide hard-to-remember information like account numbers and routing numbers.