Federal Reserve officials reassured community bankers that they are vital to the U.S. economy at a conference in St. Louis last week, while other speakers said regulators are burdening small banks with confusing, confining rules.

Ripple Labs, formerly OpenCoin Inc., is working with two new gateways, ZipZap Inc. and SnapSwap, to allow U.S. consumers to fund accounts in-person or online.

FORT HOOD, Texas – Navy FCU opened a new branch, its sixth of the year, last week in Copperas Cove, near the Fort Hood Army Base, and plans to open more than six additional branches by year-end.

Community organizations in California are urging regulators to postpone approval of PacWest Bancorp's (PACW) acquisition of CapitalSource (CSE), arguing that PacWest lacks CapitalSource's commitment to serving community needs and economically disadvantaged groups.

Royal Bank of Scotland is said to be looking for a buyer for its 105-branch network in Chicago, but finding a buyer might be difficult because of market conditions and regulatory issues.

Add PNC Financial Services Group to the list of banks slashing their mortgage staffs.

PNC Financial Services (PNC) in Pittsburgh has named a new top lawyer.

Royal Bank of Scotland's U.S. subsidiary is adding staff in lending and wealth management under new CEO Bruce Van Saun as it looks looks to boost its loan portfolio and improve its revenues ahead of its widely anticipated public stock offering.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — not one of the six agencies defining so-called "Qualified Residential Mortgages" — could still determine the future of the label under a recent proposal.

Researchers at a Federal Reserve conference in St. Louis provided data backing small bankers' concerns about regulation and competition, though it is unclear if the findings will led to meaningful change.

The $506 million-asset Delaware County Bank & Trust Company was freed from a consent order issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and a written agreement with the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions.

Members of the Utah Bankers Association had a meeting at the Treasury Department canceled thanks to the federal shutdown, but they managed to get in other work and play during a visit to the nation's capital this week.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday fined Meracord, a payment processor, for helping collect illegal debt-settlement fees.

Hudson Valley Holding in Yonkers, N.Y. has hired James Blose, a longtime advisor, to be its general counsel and secretary.

Jeffrey Welch resigned from the $4.1 billion-asset lender at the end of August, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing Friday.

The Lamassu Bitcoin machine, a so-called Bitcoin ATM that allows consumers to deposit cash to buy bitcoins, has its first buyer.

Ally Financial has completed the sale of its Brazil operations to General Motors Financial Co., a subsidiary of the automaker GM, it said. Ally (which was once itself a GM subsidiary) received $611 million in the sale.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke bit on James Bullard's joke about the superiority of St. Louis' baseball team over Washington's, but he avoided the bait to discuss the federal shutdown.

Doral Financial (DRL) in San Juan, P.R., has appointed veteran banker David Hooston as chief financial officer and executive vice president.