Bitcoin companies have had a tough time getting banks to agree to give them accounts — but a New Jersey credit union has agreed to work with Tradehill, a bitcoin exchange. Is this a ray of hope for bitcoin businesses, or will most be doomed to live in exile from the mainstream financial services industry?

Security California Bancorp in Riverside is working with a venture-capital firm to fund high-tech businesses.

First Citizens Bancshares in Raleigh, N.C., has agreed to buy 1st Financial Services in Hendersonville, N.C.

A New Jersey credit union has agreed to accept accounts transferred from a trading exchange that handles Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. The move, apparently aimed at attracting business from investors and financial institutions that trade in the alternative forms of tender, could provide them with a much needed level of legitimacy. Staff reporters discuss.

If the suit is settled, JPMorgan would become the fourth — and largest — bank to resolve allegations that it fraudulently sold poorly underwritten loans to Fannie and Freddie.

First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) in Cincinnati has retooled the management structure of its bank.

Many banks are trying to lure newly affluent age groups with high-tech services, but they might have better luck adopting a mom-and-pop approach, according to research from corporate anthropologist Andrea Simon.

Shon Hopwood has taken an unusual path: from bank heists to prison to law school … and now a prestigious federal clerkship.

The surge of institutional money into banking stocks is likely to continue for at least another quarter, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Wells Fargo's (WFC) regional president of Florida operations has been promoted to a national executive.

Regulators are widely expected Wednesday to unveil far less stringent standards than an earlier proposal for the "qualified residential mortgages" that are exempt from new risk-retention requirements for securitized loans.

An executive at Calvert Financial in Ashland, Mo., has admitted to using funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to buy a luxury condominium.

Law firm Ballard Spahr is preparing for an increase in consumer lawsuits in New York prompted by new state and federal regulations.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeking at least $6 billion from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) to settle civil claims the bank sold bad mortgage bonds to government-backed finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Three of the four largest mortgage servicers failed to meet Fannie Mae's minimum servicing requirements in the first half of 2013, according to a Fannie report released Tuesday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to issue subpoenas to mortgage servicers to find out if borrowers in foreclosure are being overcharged by third-party vendors or paying for services that were not actually delivered.

Banesco USA in Coral Gables, Fla., has named an interim president and chief executive to replace Rafael Saldaña, who left Friday.

The Immigration Bridge Loan Fund aims to help skilled immigrants who are unable to practice the jobs they held in their home countries without additional training in the U.S., the bank said Tuesday.

Bank of America must face a trial next month in a lawsuit alleging the bank's Countrywide unit defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by selling them billions of dollars in bad mortgages, a federal judge ruled.

Independence Federal Savings Bank (IFSB) in Washington, D.C., is taking a second shot at buying Colombo Bancshares in Rockville, Md., three years after the companies called off plans to merge.