American Banker editors discuss the prospects for reducing the roles of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in housing finance and the obstacles a pullback would face.

Talbot Bank in Easton, Md., has signed a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and its state regulator, effective Friday.

Bank of America (BAC) is seeking buyers for about 40 branches in New York and Pennsylvania, four people with knowledge of the matter said.

Sharp bookkeepers could spot a kite in progress, but, more often than not, they were too hurried to give the ledgers a second look.

Bankers Bank Northeast in Glastonbury, Conn., has hired a former Home Loan bank executive to be its next chief.

First Niagara Financial (FNFG) in Buffalo, N.Y., has reportedly reached a severance agreement with John Koelmel, who was ousted as chief executive in March.

Believe GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt when he says banks are unlikely to try to buy his consumer finance unit. Few banks could afford the huge business, and regulators would never allow them to buy it, market watchers say.

Fidelity National Financial dominates mortgage underwriting. Its former LPS unit is the top mortgage servicer. The question is whether two companies that have run out of room to grow separately can prosper together.

Centier Bank in Whiting, Ind., has begun using a card-issuance system from EFT Source, a provider of turnkey card programs.

A new report from the Federal Reserve on debit card swipe fees suggests that the 2011 law that capped fees large banks could charge is not crimping revenues at smaller institutions, echoing earlier findings by the Federal Trade Commission.

Target Corp., Macy's Inc. (M) and other companies sued Visa Inc. (V) and MasterCard Inc. (MA) over credit-card and debit-card fees after retailers objected to a multibillion-dollar settlement of a similar suit.

Visa's hiring of former JPMorgan Chase executive Ryan McInerney comes six months after Visa named an ex-Chase executive as its CEO and three months after the bank and card network revealed plans to team up on a new payments platform.

Online lenders threaten to seize dominant control of the market for small loans to small business.

The social services charity is thanking Eugene McQuade, the head of Citigroup's main banking unit, for the support he and his company have provided it.

Henry Holt & Co. announced a deal with Elizabeth Warren for her account of founding the CFPB, her Massachusetts Senate race and advocacy for the middle class.

Plumas Bancorp in Quincy, Calif., has exited the Troubled Asset Relief Program by repurchasing a warrant from the Treasury Department.

With a litany of bipartisan reasons to oppose FATCA, ranging from privacy and sovereignty to U.S. economic competitiveness, it is startling that the legislation has advanced as far as it has.

Old National Bancorp (ONB) in Evansville, Ind., plans to close approximately 10% of its branches in an effort to improve efficiency.

It's hard to believe but true: more than 700 banks maintained a pristine Camels 1 rating throughout the six-year period bracketing the financial crisis. New Fed research shows why.

The nation's biggest banks may be too big to fail but they enjoy little advantage when it comes to the cost of capital.