Equity Residential, the largest U.S. publicly traded apartment owner, is close to a deal to buy the Beatrice luxury tower in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood for $280 million, expanding in New York as rents jump.

The Federal Housing Administration has rescinded guidelines that would have made it harder for consumers to qualify for a mortgage if they have a collection action or disputed credit account of at least $1,000.

First Midwest Bancorp (FMBI) in Itasca, Ill., has named Thomas M. Prame its director of retail banking, a newly created position in which he will be responsible for the bank's 100-branch network and oversee the expansion and development of its retail products and services.

The investment bank, which specializes in research, says it has begun covering the online auction and shopping company because of its ecommerce unit, PayPal.

Two payday lenders have filed suit against the city of Austin, Texas, claiming that new regulations restricting where payday lenders can operate and how much they can lend to one borrower violate state laws.

We finally have a regulator with no mandate to preserve banks' image. To protect consumers, the CFPB must assure that those who cheat them are punished. New rules won't help if we don't enforce the old ones.

Bankers, regulators and consumer advocates debate the best ways to serve low-income and underbanked consumers.

Center Bancorp (CNBC) of Union, N.J., has taken another step in its plan to bulk up in northern New Jersey.

An estimated 720 different collection agencies and creditors were sued between May 16-31, according to data from U.S. District courts. The number is up from the May 1-15 total of 605.

State regulators closed banks in Georgia, Florida and Tennessee on Friday, making June a busy month for failures.

A lawsuit has been filed against Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (PEBK) alleging that the Newton company failed to operate its overdraft program in line with its customer account agreement.

Deal for Piraeus' Marathon Banking unit in U.S. satisfies Investors' M&A ambitions in New York for now, CEO Kevin Cummings says.

The six largest credit-card lenders saw further improvements in borrower behavior in May, even as choppy economic data spark concerns over the financial state of U.S. consumers.

Avidbank in Palo Alto, Calif., will open a loan production office in downtown San Jose next week.

With Congress nearing a vote on a new Farm Bill that will set agricultural policy for the next five years, the banking industry is urging lawmakers to resist efforts to weaken the federal crop insurance program.

Cardinal Bankshares in Floyd, Va., is developing a comprehensive plan just weeks after a proxy battle brought in three new directors and led to the ouster of its chief executive.

Maybe George Bailey should've jumped — and made his savings and loan a commercial bank. If he had, he'd have been much better prepared for the Fed's decision to raise certain capital requirements, a move some are calling the death knell for the classic thrift business model: lend to home buyers like crazy.

As with housing, different bank markets across the country have crashed and recovered at different speeds. Measured by institutions with high Texas ratios, stress has tapered quickly in states like Washington and California, but remains elevated in Georgia, Illinois and Florida.

Home Depot told shareholders that interchange price controls would add "$35 million a year" to the bottom line. Why should consumers now believe the company has chosen not to keep these newfound gains for itself?

Private Bank of Buckhead in Atlanta has been given the green light to open its second branch.