The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "has been a good communicator" with the banking industry and "has done some positive things" but also has "a big job to do," says Bank of the West's Andy Harmening, a senior executive vice president and regional banking group head. Harmening discusses the advantages and pitfalls of dealing with the new regulatory agency at American Banker's annual Best Practices in Retail Banking Symposium.

JPMorgan Chase kicked off the first-quarter earnings season by announcing record profits, but the results did little to inspire investor confidence in bank earnings or diminish ongoing scrutiny of the bank's business and corporate structure.

Wells Fargo (WFC) is still betting big on the mortgage market it dominates, hiring lenders and support staff and aggressively courting first-time homebuyers as refinancings wane.

Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK) in Little Rock, Ark., reported higher quarterly earnings because of higher mortgage income.

Bank of the West is trying to expand its lending, even to small-business borrowers who are initially turned down for new loans, while managing risk prudently. Andy Harmening, a senior executive vice president and regional banking group head, discusses the bank's efforts to increase business but control risk. He spoke to American Banker at the annual Best Practices in Retail Banking Symposium.

The GSE believes it can offer community banks another source of revenue by originating and selling agricultural loans.

Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest lender, plans to increase loans to energy and utility industries in the U.S. to capitalize on a recovery in the world's largest economy, President Nobuyuki Hirano said.

Flagstar Bancorp in Troy, Mich., has added two key executives: Hugh Boyle, a former chief risk officer at Washington Mutual, will have the same job at Flagstar; and Michael Flynn was hired as the company's general counsel.

Federal law gives President Obama the ability to remove the Federal Housing Finance Agency's acting director and replace him with one of three deputies, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office concludes.

Investors in search of yield are supporting a return to more aggressive, higher-risk transactions. Banks need the discipline of fixed underwriting standards to prevent mindless herding.

M&T Bank's purchase of Hudson City Bancorp faces a lengthy delay after regulators raised concerns about M&T's compliance with anti-money-laundering rules.

Wells Fargo (WFC) posted a 22 percent rise in first-quarter profit that beat forecasts as the company curbed expense growth.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. bank by assets, said first-quarter profit rose 33 percent, beating analysts' estimates as record low interest rates fueled mortgage-revenue gains.

Century (CNBKA), a $3.2 billion-asset company in Medford, Mass., said in a regulatory filing Thursday that James McDonough had resigned as a director to become CEO of Randolph Savings in Stoughton, Mass.

After months of concern about MasterCard's April l9 liability shift for ATM owners accepting Maestro cards, the National ATM Council says it has established a workable solution with the card brand's offer of fraud screening. But another ATM trade group isn't celebrating just yet.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is pressing large banks like Citi, B of A and JPMorgan to provide investors with more accurate information about structured notes, complex securities that are often sold to wealthy individuals.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency on Thursday extended the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program for an additional two years through 2015. The program was set to expire at the end of this year.

As part of a regular update of its finances, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it will return amounts from the 2009 prepayment that were unnecessary.

Lawmakers grilled the OCC and Fed on Thursday over the failed independent foreclosure review, including their extensive use of independent consultants to carry out much of the work.

A federal judge ordered retail trade groups Thursday to make changes to websites that seek to persuade merchants to oppose a proposed settlement over credit card swipe fees.