Midland States Bank in Effingham, Ill., is reportedly close to buying Heartland Bank in St. Louis.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned banks and other companies that it will pursue action against any employer that forces employees to deposit wages into a payroll card account.

An antitrust complaint against Visa and MasterCard will continue, prolonging the eight-year battle, after both proponents and defendants were heard during the fairness hearing Sept. 12.

Umpqua Holdings' agreement to buy Sterling Financial is the latest in a series of deals this year to pair similarly sized banks, creating a new crop of midsize financial institutions.

Lawmakers blasted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday, claiming it had failed to respond to their questions about its data gathering activities.

The $3.6 billion-asset Simmons First said Thursday that it plans to pay $53.6 million in cash for the Little Rock, Ark., bank.

Three years after constructing a database aimed at standardizing the home appraisal process, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still finding serious discrepancies in many appraisals submitted by mortgage lenders.

Capitol City Bank & Trust in Atlanta has named Chief Operating Officer John Turner its new president and chief executive.

The top leaders of the Senate Banking Committee said Thursday that they intend to reach a bipartisan agreement by yearend on a bill to revamp the mortgage finance system despite fears that the issue is losing momentum.

The Treasury Department plans to auction nearly $118 million of shares in six lenders as it continues to wind down the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Fortress Investment Group hired Michael Nierenberg, Bank of America's head of global mortgages and securitized products, as a senior executive in its private-equity business, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Landmark Community Bank in Collierville, Tenn., has agreed to acquire the central Tennessee assets of Cadence Bank, according to a report.

Sober presentations from CEOs normally dominate the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference in New York, but instant interactive polls and a piano-bar soundtrack gave this year's get-together an offbeat feel.

An activist investor with a reputation for pressuring management teams is pushing for a seat on the board of Malvern Federal Bancorp in Paoli, Pa.

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Atlantic Coast Financial (ACFC) in Jacksonville, Fla., plans to sell $46 million in common stock. The move, disclosed in a Tuesday regulatory filing, follows a tumultuous period for the $743 million-asset company.

More community banks are establishing credit card loyalty programs in their quest for revenue growth. The programs can work provided they are easy to understand, pay a lot of cash and tie rewards points to local services.

Regulators sought to reassure bankers about new mortgage rules at a conference in North Carolina this week, but remarks from all sides about pitfalls and policy mistakes fed the tension.

Investors should brace for third-quarter earnings shock as banks' loan growth stalls and mortgage-banking revenue dries up even faster than predicted, according to an analyst report from BMO Capital Markets.

BankUnited (BKU) in Miami Lakes, Fla., is ready for some football. The $13 billion-asset company announced Thursday that it has become an "official partner" of the New York Jets.