First Mariner and Beneficial Mutual are among the banks that have gained large stakes in competitors after borrowers defaulted on loans where stock was pledged as collateral.

Heritage Financial Group (HBOS) of Albany, Ga., is entering neighboring Alabama with an agreement to buy a branch in Auburn from the banking unit of Community Capital Bancshares.

Actor Ashton Kutcher has invested in mobile payments provider Dwolla and wants to "build a killer [bleeping] company in Iowa."

Shareholders of several community banks are facing big decisions this year, including approvals for executive compensation and adding directors intent on spurring M&A. A rise in shareholder activism adds to the intrigue. Here are some smaller banks that promise to have exciting, if not explosive, annual meetings.

Bank of America (BAC) wants to clear out the backlog of distressed homes in Florida by speeding up approvals of short sales.

With big deals still lacking, some bankers — including Umpqua's Ray Davis — are resorting to several small ones to move the needle.

Visa announced Wednesday a tool to help issuers spot fraud.

HAMP servicers completed 22,260 loan modifications in February, up 24% from the prior month, according to a Treasury Department report.

Roughly 33 full-timers will lose their jobs when Ally Financial closes its MBS broker/dealer operation, according to a company spokeswoman.

Three top executives at the recovering Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania (RBPAA) will retire from the company by the end of the year, including Robert R. Tabas, its chairman and CEO.

Overdraft fees are drawing increased regulatory and legal scrutiny, but they can still pack a punch. Just ask Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) accountholder Stu Straus, who mysteriously racked up $1,555.61 in overdraft fees.

Sometime in June, the long-awaited final qualified mortgage rule will be released. Considerable speculation and debate over variations of the rule have taken place since it appeared in the Dodd-Frank Act. Its ultimate form has implications for access to mortgage credit, its cost, and contingent legal liability, among others.

BELLEVUE, Neb. – SAC FCU, originally the credit union for the Strategic Air Command, plans to build a $20-million, four-story headquarters in nearby Papillion, the start of what may become a new office park.

Umpqua Holdings bought an open bank Tuesday for the first time in years, and like many of its peers chose a low-risk target that promises niche growth and little blowback from shareholders.

The mortgage insurance industry has paid about $30 billion in claims, mostly to Fannie and Freddie, through the current cycle. That $30 billion is money that didn't have to come from the taxpayer.

Empire National Bank said that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has ended a formal agreement after the Islandia, N.Y., bank improved its liquidity management and reduced credit concentrations.

The National Fair Housing Alliance's past discrimination initiatives against the property insurance industry and others suggest that servicers should expect a series of press releases and HUD complaints followed by federal court actions.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau outlined a slew of new rules it plans to propose this summer that the industry said could require expensive systems upgrades for servicers.

Albert Forkner, who had been Wyoming's acting banking commissioner since January, was appointed to the position permanently in late March.

Bankers have lost the credibility needed to influence the public and policymakers, M&T Bank CEO Robert Wilmers says.