The agency discusses recent steps by financial institutions to participate in healthy-food investment cooperatives, and says lenders could earn Community Reinvestment Act credit for spurring such activities in areas that need it.

A discount title insurer has secured backing from an international reinsurer for its bid to start an industry price fight.

Bank of America Corp., the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, named four new directors including former Deloitte LLP Chairman Sharon Allen and BAE Systems Inc. chief Linda Hudson.

Mutual holding companies appear to be fleeing the format and converting to stock companies, but Northeast Community CEO Kenneth Martinek remains a staunch supporter of the model. That may be partly because he's being sued by an activist investor who is pushing him to convert Northeast to a stock company from an MHC.

Sophia Haliotis will be a senior vice president for Popular Community, the U.S. unit of the $36.3 billion-asset Popular in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and guide its expansion of commercial banking in the New York City region.

ProPublica this week became the latest media outlet to start tracking banks' recent scandals, from JPMorgan's London Whale to HSBC's money-laundering issues.

The CEO of First PacTrust will now share his title with an investor and director, who the bank hired to oversee nonbank deals.

BB&T (BBT) will lay off as many as 365 employees in connection with its acquisition of BankAtlantic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., according to a filing with the state government.

Pulaski Financial (PULB) in St. Louis has repurchased almost a quarter of the preferred stock it had issued to the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program and that was subsequently sold to private investors in an auction.

The sad reality is that an unregulated shadow financial system pushed explosive subprime loans.

Fierce competition for customers has forced card issuers to sharpen their game, and the result for customers is better service, favorable rates and more generous rewards programs, according to J.D. Power & Associates.

If the networks don't voluntarily implement more reasonable pricing, merchants will steer consumers to cheaper alternatives and there will soon be nothing left to fight about.

The number of homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth fell by about 400,000 in the second quarter as prices rose and properties were lost to foreclosure, Zillow said.

The banking SuperPAC is eyeing seven candidates — four Republicans and three Democrats — as it decides what two races to support in late September or early October. Following is the short list of who is under consideration.

BEAVERTON, Ore. – The $550-million Rivermark Community Credit Union said it plans to close branches in Clackamas and Newberg, Ore., and will focus on encouraging members to use mobile and online solutions for transactions.

Malvern Federal Bancorp (MLVF) in Paoli, Pa., will raise up to roughly $36.4 million by converting to a 100% stock-owned company from a mutual holding company.

In an effort to make up for some of the shelf space it could soon be losing at big-box retailers, Green Dot (GDOT) is partnering with student lender Sallie Mae to market a prepaid card to students who do not have a traditional bank account.

Investor and director Steven Sugarman will now share CEO duties with Gregory Mitchell at First PacTrust of Irvine, Calif. The company announced a bank deal Wednesday, and Sugarman is expected to take lead on nonbank deals.

BMO Harris Bank in Chicago has tapped a former SunTrust Banks (STI) executive to help steer its growth in the car-dealer lending business.

Industry observers are advising more community banks with trust-preferred securities to raise capital now before Basel III puts them at odds with regulators.