With profits rising to a "post-crisis high," the FDIC says loan balances fell in the first quarter. But with banks selling off loans and balances affected by seasonal factors, the direction of lending growth is unclear.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Corporate One FCU said this afternoon that members of Florida's Southeast Corporate FCU have approved the combination of the two, creating one of the biggest corporates in the country with $5 billion in assets.

Nearly a year after calling off a stock sale that would have sharply diluted the value of its shares, Independent Bank in Ionia, Mich., said it would instead raise capital by selling off a batch of branches.

Prices garnered prior to the crisis have little in common with what banks are worth today or what they will likely be worth in the future. Yet boards and managers remain irrationally fixated on outdated, irrelevant valuations.

Cardinal Bankshares' yearlong battle with an activist investor ended with a deadlocked board, an ousted chairman and a lot of uncertainty. The biggest challenge for all parties is determining who is in charge.

Plans to unify mortgage securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been top of mind at several events this month, as the mortgage industry works to jumpstart the securities market in the wake of the financial crisis.

If JPMorgan Chase's trading blowup raised worries about booby traps at other financial giants, it might be comforting to know that its securities portfolio is more complex — and perhaps trickier to hedge — than those of rival megabanks.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on Tuesday fined Citigroup Global Markets Inc. $3.5 million in a settlement related to charges of nonconforming residential mortgage-backed securities violations that Citi neither admitted to nor denied.

Citigroup, a somewhat frequent seller of nonperforming loans, is in the market with a $99 million package of troubled residential mortgages, according to investors that have looked at the package.

Intermountain Community Bancorp had hoped to raise up to $8.7 million from existing shareholders, but the Sandpoint, Idaho, company only got 40% of the way there.

Bank of America will buy back $330 million of home mortgages from Freddie Mac because the bank did not get full appraisals on some properties, raising concerns that some newly originated loans are not meeting underwriting guidelines.

The Federal Reserve Board has posted a video reminding borrowers that they may be eligible for compensation if they were harmed by the foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010.

Howard Bancorp in Ellicott City, Md., is looking to raise up to $12.8 million through a combined stock sale and private placement and it intends to use at least some of the proceeds to pursue acquisitions.

The Federal Reserve has ordered Britton & Koontz Capital to obtain the regulator’s approval before making a number of strategic moves.

First Bancorp (FBNC) in Troy, N.C., surprised investors by announcing that it would replace its president and CEO, Jerry Ocheltree, with Richard Moore, a former chairman of the North Carolina State Banking Commission. Ocheltree will remain president of the company's bank.

Wells Fargo executives say it keeps its risk low through the bank’s one-size-fits-all approach to problems: greater customer focus.

The Virginia company had been fighting efforts by Schaller Equity Partners to win up to five seats on the board.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday it intends to issue a rule extending consumer protections under Reg E to general purpose reloadable cards.

GROTON, Conn. – The Waterford Planning and Zoning Commission approved an application from Charter Oak FCU to build a new, 60,000-square foot, $16-million corporate headquarters at 1055 Hartford Turnpike.

Investors are now willing to put money into community lenders with credible business plans, sufficient scale, and executives who show "courage" and "fortitude," says Greg Mitchell, CEO of First PacTrust.