What the investor fights at ECB and First California say about how hard it will be for struggling banks in prized markets to stay independent, and who is vulnerable.

We at the FDIC continue to believe the small-dollar loan model is replicable and that these loans can be cost-effective and responsive to the needs of both consumers and bankers.

Customers Bancorp, the Wyomissing, Pa., banking comany led by veteran banker Jay Sidhu, is giving up nearly 20% of its ownership to venture into the greater Washington, D.C., market.

Six out of 10 homeowners who received a loan modification stopped paying their mortgage again after 18 months, but there may be a modest silver lining buried in the high recidivism rates.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (PNFP) in Nashville has repaid the remaining $71.6 million of the $95 million it received from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program in December 2008.

The State National Bank of Big Spring in Texas is leading a lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, becoming the first known community bank to file a lawsuit against the agency.

Citigroup branch has now received LEED certification on 200 facilities.

Banks are entitled to a profit. Customers are entitled to value for their money. Financial products can be designed, marketed and priced to satisfy both parties' needs.

The operators of an allegedly deceptive mortgage modification business will pay more than $750,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. The settlements also permanently ban the defendants from selling any mortgage-assistance relief products.

Wells Fargo (WFC) will outsource an unspecified number of jobs in its institutional retirement division to India and the Philippines as part of a broader cost savings initiative.

The risky practices at and implicit taxpayer guarantee for systemically dangerous megabanks are driving consumers to community-based banks.

Palmetto Bancshares in Greenville, S.C., is shedding more than $40 million of problem loans as part of its ongoing effort to clean up its balance sheet and return to profitability.

Financial regulators Thursday said they are prepared to take action against banks and other mortgage servicers that don't give the proper help to military homeowners forced to move to a new duty location

PHILADELPHIA – American Heritage FCU opened a new branch inside a ShopRite in Rexborough, which was remodeled recently.

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Altra FCU announced it will expand into the Rochester, Minn., market with a new branch.

Freddie Mac raised its estimate for 2012 originations to $1.45 trillion in its latest economic and housing market outlook, citing lower expected 30-year rates. Freddie previously had forecast that 2012 would end with a total of just $1.3 trillion in originations.

JPMorgan Chase has decided to step on the bandwagon of megalenders refusing to participate in FHA "streamline" refinancings that are outside of their current servicing portfolios.

George L. Engelke Jr. has resigned as chairman of Astoria Financial (AF), ending his long tenure with the Lake Success, N.Y., company that included a 22-year run as its chief executive officer.

John Kanas' BankUnited seems like a small threat now, but Capital One fought hard to protect its standing in the prized Northeastern market down the road.

FirstBank of Lexington, Tenn., has named its chief banking officer as its new president.