The Small Business Administration said Monday that agency-guaranteed loans to exporters rose about 1%, to $923 million, for the 12 months that ended Sept. 30. The loans supported $1.7 billion in small-business exports, according to the agency.

Attention has largely been focused on merchants seeking to opt out of the deal. But if the Justice Department were to object to the agreement's terms, the judge would likely listen, observers say.

There needs to be stronger incentive for bankers to behave, far-reaching cultural changes spurred by directors and a unilateral commitment to stamp out money-laundering schemes.

A flurry of new mortgage rules are overwhelming home lenders — some they feel are too strict and others too ill-defined to decipher.

Two proxy advisory services have recommended against a proposal for Hampden Bancorp in Springfield, Mass., to explore a possible sale.

Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati has added three veteran bankers to head a new unit that will focus on lending to the energy industry.

Sterling Financial in Spokane, Wash., is buying American Heritage Holdings, the holding company of Borrego Springs Bank in La Mesa, Calif., for $6.5 million in cash.

Higher noninterest expenses and lower net interest income drove down Bank of Hawaii's quarterly earnings.

Amex's Bluebird card account, exempt from Durbin and assertedly from bank regulation, is likely to generate high interchange. Consumers, banks and Amex won't pay for these checking accounts. Merchants (excepting Walmart) will.

Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae are seeking to protect taxpayers as a flood of new lenders apply to do business with them. That's also helping big banks' profit and blunting Federal Reserve efforts to boost housing.

Three banks failed Friday – including two in Florida – and will cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. an estimated $86 million. Regulators seized the $200 million-asset Excel Bank in Sedalia, Mo.; the $159 million-asset GulfSouth Private Bank in Destin, Fla.; and the $67 million-asset First East Side Savings Bank in Tamarac, Fla.

First Financial Northwest in Renton, Wash., a $973 million-asset company, lost $791,000 in the third quarter, compared to net income of $1.4 million in the second quarter and profit of $623,000 a year earlier.

A group of nine retailers asked a federal judge Friday to approve a multibillion dollar settlement of a lawsuit challenging the way banks and credit card networks set interchange fees.

First Niagara, a Buffalo, N.Y., company, has grown significantly through recent acquisitions but now it wants to cut expenses. Management plans to then reinvest those funds in fee-generating businesses.

Federal regulators are reviewing banks' growth plans, particularly those that include third-party companies. To avoid excessive scrutiny, industry experts advise banks to proactively discuss such relationships with examiners.

First Horizon Financial National (FHN) saw its stock fall almost 5% in early trading Friday after announcing a $30 million charge tied to loans where the borrower has liquidated debts in bankruptcy court.

Regulators have announced the winning bidder for assets of failed Tennessee Commerce Bank.

After two official presidential debates without much discussion of the mortgage sector, the issue finally came up in a late-night television interview.

If proposed mortgage rules are too rigid, banks will have little choice but to restrict lending. But if they are ill-defined or too loose, banks say they face higher compliance costs and increased risk of litigation.

Borrowing by homeowners and improving credit quality boosted third-quarter profits at BancorpSouth (BXS) of Tupelo, Miss. The $13.2 billion-asset company said late Thursday that its earnings doubled, to $23.8 million, compared with a year earlier.