American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

Patterns in the private student-lending industry are dangerously similar to those seen in the housing market prior to its collapse, according to a study expected to be released Friday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

DALEVILLE, Ala. – Army Aviation Center FCU opened its new operations center, a 42,500-square-foot building that cost $8 million to build.

CENTERVILLE, Utah – America First CU said it will maintain a branch at the Dick’s grocery store that closed last Saturday.

HOUSTON – Texas Dow Employees CU has increased its lease commitment in the Marathon Oil Tower, a 41-story building in the Galleria area of Houston.

The Federal Reserve Board has put the kibosh on Virginia Commerce Bancorp's plan to start paying back the Treasury Department this summer.

The FDIC wants banks to remove its name from a fee that covers their deposit insurance assessments. Bankers say the instruction runs counter to complaints that bank fees are often too vaguely defined.

AmericanWest in Spokane, Wash., announced Thursday it plans to acquire the $221 million-asset Inland Community Bank for $23.7 million, or 95% of its book value. It is AmericanWest's third acquisition in California in a year.

Porter Bancorp (PBIB) of Louisville, Ky., did not have to look far to find the new leader for its struggling bank.

The Federal Reserve Board has ended a written agreement with Premier Financial that required the Dubuque, Iowa, company to develop a plan to maintain sufficient capital and an adequate allowance for loan and leases losses.

American Express is downplaying concerns over the impact of a proposed settlement in a longstanding retailers' lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard.

KeyCorp, which is still seeing expenses eat up more than two-thirds of its revenues, will cut costs and close branches in an effort to lower its efficiency ratio.

A proposal by San Bernardino County to use eminent domain to take control of underwater mortgages would hurt government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. It would also hurt plans to reduce the government's role in housing.

Magna Bank in Memphis, Tenn. has switched to a state charter, dumping the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in favor of a state regulator that management believes is more familiar with its local market.

"The Daily Show" host took several sharp stabs at the growing Libor scandal on Wednesday night, equating the bankers that manipulated the interbank lending rate with the villains of a "Da Vinci Code"-type thriller.

Its second-quarter earnings were noisy, but the McLean, Va., company appears poised for a comeback in the second half of 2012.

From the Card Act to the CFPB to Durbin, new regulations succeed only in raising the prices or crimping availability of financial services. Memo to politicians: Google "unintended consequences."

A growing number of banks are opting to dive into the still immature market for data breach insurance as the risks of doing without coverage mount.

Improved asset quality and sharp decline overhead expenses in the second quarter powered CVB Financial (CVBF) in Ontario, Calif., to its most-profitable quarter in its 38-year history.