Provident New York Bancorp (PBNY) in Montebello, N.Y., reported strong earnings in the quarter that ended Sept. 30 thanks to loan growth and a major decrease in merger-related expenses.

Community banks have a proportionate disadvantage to taxpayer-subsidized megabanks as the crushing burden of regulation meant to stop the abuses of Wall Street rain down excessively on Main Street.

BOK Financial Corp. (BOKF) in Tulsa, Okla., fell short of Wall Street's quarterly earnings estimates due to the mortgage slowdown, margin compression and higher costs for bad loans.

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — Ally Financial Inc., the auto and home lender rescued by the U.S. government, said it reached a settlement tied to disputed mortgages with two federal agencies.

First Financial Holdings (SCBT) in Columbia, S.C., reported a 26% rise in quarterly profit after completing a transformative M&A deal.

First Busey (BUSE) in Champaign, Ill., posted a higher profit in the third quarter as credit quality improved to pre-recession norms.

Atlantic Coast Financial (ACFC) in Jacksonville, Fla., narrowed its losses during a quarter of management upheaval.

JPMorgan Chase's proposed terms for settling state and federal probes of mortgage-bond sales were rejected by the Department of Justice this week, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.

The Federal Reserve Board has lifted a regulatory order on First Community Bank in Glasgow, Mont.

Many financial institutions are inadvertently slipping into noncompliance with anti-money laundering rules even as regulators turn up the heat, according to a white paper released Tuesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

M&A is time-consuming and expensive, and it’s especially painful for small banks like First Scottsdale, an aspiring consolidator in Arizona, when their deals fall apart.

A report released Tuesday says that Treasury and the states are not moving quickly to help unemployed homeowners make their mortgage payments.

Medieval heroes and oinking pigs are by no means typical features of banking apps. But financial institutions are beginning to add these and other characters as as gamification techniques take hold in the industry. The goal: make their apps more engaging and encourage consumers to pay greater attention to their money. Banks are also aiming to draw attention to new products to foster healthier living habits. Following is a peek at where banks are going with gamification.

The Small Business Administration is temporarily waiving fees on loans of $150,000 or less, and community bankers say it will encourage lenders and borrowers to pursue loans that they had shied away from in recent years.

If CSR efforts are allowed to fall by the wayside, it will be at the expense of customer trust and future growth.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) made more loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration than any other bank in fiscal year 2013, while Wells Fargo was tops by dollar volume for the fifth consecutive year, according to new data from the SBA.

The Federal Housing Administration has reached a "tipping point" in its mission of providing low-cost protection for homebuyers while trying to keep its insurance fund liquid, Commissioner Carol Galante said today.

The Treasury Department's Michael Stegman further bolstered the Obama administration's support of Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Tuesday, describing how the agency's policies must intersect with mortgage finance reform efforts in Congress.

Bank of America may have to pay $5 billion to $8 billion to settle federal claims tied to faulty mortgages after a rival lender's deal set "a relatively high bar," Fitch Ratings said.