A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

U.S. prosecutors are pursuing guilty pleas, criminal convictions and "significant monetary penalties" from banks and their employees in the global investigation into the rigging of benchmark interest rates, a senior Justice Department official said.

Experts say the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau backed away from stiffer requirements after two powerful consumer groups raised fears that they would drive small banks and credit unions out of the remittance business.

The longer yields stay low, "the bigger the problem becomes for banks," UMB CEO Mariner Kemper says. A low cost of funds helps UMB resist temptations presented by cutthroat competition and looser loan terms, Kemper adds.

The Texas Bankers Association has selected Ignacio Urrabazo, the chief executive of Commerce Bank in Laredo, to become its new chairman.

Community banks that expanded student lending to improve earnings are discovering why their larger brethren have backed off from the business: servicing and compliance challenges abound.

More lenders are willing to make second-lien loans because of hot demand and greater yield, even as regulators warn against risks in the leveraged-lending market.

Big banks and regionals have been pounded by denial of service attacks but small banks less so. Bank Technology News staffers discuss what community bankers should do to prepare for the risk that cyber-criminals will target them next.

The banking industry's pace of expansion accelerated in March after bankers reported more activity in auto lending and mortgages.

Instead of downsizing, banks should reposition big branch networks to protect their ground from nonbanks and tech companies trying to infiltrate the financial services space.

Flagstar Bancorp (FBC) in Troy, Mich., will pay $110 million to settle allegations that it misrepresented the quality of more than $1 billion of private label mortgage-backed securities it sold to investors.

Two deals lifted First Community Bancshares in Bluefield, Va., in the first quarter.

The $1.6 billion-asset company said Thursday that Vincent Tozzi will also resign on May 31 as treasurer to pursue another opportunity.

New York investment bank MLV, expecting lots of bank M&A activity in the Southeast and Southwest, has hired an expert on those regions, David Bishop from Stifel Nicolaus, to start a research unit.

Sb1 Federal Credit Union in Philadelphia has hired Robert Werner, a former chief operating officer of Two River Community Bank, as its president and CEO.

If they get on their high horse, bankers risk coming off as disingenuous. Concentrate instead on developing products that will help consumers meet a specific financial goal.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are helping to provide additional relief to Hurricane Sandy victims who received a temporary reprieve from paying their mortgage after the storm but are still struggling financially.

The San Francisco company's former CEO Dick Kovacevich served as stand-in at the Wells Fargo Championship pro-am. Why? One reason is that current CEO John Stumpf doesn't play golf.

Customer satisfaction with BMO Harris fell after it bought Marshall & Ilsley thanks to a customer-service glitch and other issues, showing how hard it is to integrate acquisitions.

The Federal Reserve Board has hit a Wisconsin bank with an enforcement action, while lifting actions against two others.