An employee stole $301,000 from Liberty Bell Bank. Because the bank did not have insurance coverage, the theft took a bite out of the bank's bottom line. Instead of reporting net income of $375,000 for 2011, Liberty Bell's full-year profit was $74,000.

U.S. Bank Home Mortgage table funded $8.1 billion of mortgages through loan brokers in the fourth quarter, displacing Provident Funding Associates as the nation's largest player in the channel, according new figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

The Treasury Department has not said if it intends to auction off more stakes it owns in community banks, but Yadkin Valley Financial (YAVY) in Elkin, N.C., wants to be ready in case it does.

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase reclassified many second mortgages as delinquent, even though they are current, because the first mortgages to which they are subordinate have already gone delinquent.

A recent credit union conference in Chicago featured a presentation of what a futuristic branch could look like.

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.

TD Bank has named Vinoo Vijay as its new chief marketing officer.

Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK) in Little Rock said its first-quarter earnings increased 23% from the same period in 2011, to $18 million, on the strength of improved efficiency, solid growth in fee income and a continued decline in problem assets.

Wells Fargo & Co.'s (WFC) first-quarter profit rose 13% as the giant U.S. bank booked better-than-expected revenue growth with help from strong mortgage banking.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s (JPM) first-quarter earnings fell 3.1% as legal expenses and debt-related charges weighed, masking a surprise increase in revenue.

The FDIC is auctioning a collection of jewelry it inherited from the failed Tennessee Commerce Bank, marking the latest in a history of odd assets the agency has inherited through receivership. Ranging from sports franchises and film rights to casinos and taxis, the FDIC has unloaded scores of strange items over the years.

After the U.S. government snatched Fannie Mae from the brink of collapse in 2008 and forced out its chief executive officer, Daniel H. Mudd, he headed for the river.

In a letter to Senate leaders, the head of a Glendale, Calif., credit union broke with the rest of the industry on legislation that would allow credit unions to make more commercial loans.

The board of directors at VIST Financial (VIST) in Wyomissing, Pa., has formed a special litigation committee to investigate shareholder claims that the board breached its fiduciary duty when it agreed to sell VIST to an upstate New York company for $86 million.

Independent Bank Corp. (INDB) of Rockland, Mass., reported that its first-quarter income rose 9% from a year earlier, to $12.2 million, as customer growth led to increased loans and fee income.

The large municipalities can leverage their primary banking relationships to help their communities — as opposed to seeing all of the benefits accruing to the too-big-to-fail financial conglomerates.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking comment on a proposal to revise a Federal Reserve rule limiting credit card fees issued before a borrower opens an account.

The Treasury Department's recent auction of preferred shares in six banks may signal that the agency has finally found a path to end its bank investments under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Shares of Southcoast Financial (SOCB) surged more than 50% Thursday after the Mt. Pleasant, S.C., banking company reported its first quarterly profit in nearly two years.

Some bank customers increasingly turn to prepaid cards and other alternative financial services, which have both advantages and disadvantages over the traditional checking account. The Pew Charitable Trust's Financial Security Portfolio on Wednesday released findings from several focus groups held with prepaid card users late last year.