John Koelmel touts quarterly profit in interview, but merger and integration costs weighed on the Buffalo bank — and more are on the way.

Suffolk Bancorp in Riverhead, N.Y., said late Wednesday that it has a new accounting firm.

A potential default by Greece would not constitute a "disaster" and Europe still is likely to "muddle through" a very complex set of issues to resolve its financial crisis, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Thursday.

Astoria Financial Corp. in Lake Success, N.Y., said late Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profits fell 50% from a year earlier, to $11.8 million, because of decreases in average interest-earning assets.

Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. in Lititz, Pa., reported Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings nearly doubled from a year earlier, to $19.1 million, on improvements in areas such as lending, fee income and a reduction of problem assets.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – MIT FCU, which serves the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said it has renewed its lease on a 16,573-square-foot office building at 700 Technology Square.

CAPE CHARLES, Va. – NMA FCU said it plans to open a branch office on the first floor of the Cape Charles Blue Hotel by March 1.

SAN ANTONIO – Security Service FCU opened a new 5,000-square-foot branch in New Braunfels, the credit union giant’s first location in the area.

Former Fannie Mae chief executive, Daniel Mudd, who was named last month in a mortgage-related Securities and Exchange Commission fraud suit, has officially resigned from the publicly traded investment manager Fortress Investment Group and its board, ending a leave of absence.

Mortgage loan application volume declined by 5% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week that ended Jan. 20, as interest rates on some fixed-rate loans rebounded from their all-time lows, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Fannie Mae's final multifamily mortgage-backed securities issuance numbers for 2011 are in and they reflect a nearly 50% increase from the previous year, according to an executive at the government-sponsored enterprise.

The president of the Government National Mortgage Association, Ted Tozer, has been trying in vain to get more mortgage companies to issue mortgage-backed securities, but Wells Fargo & Co. continues to increase its grip on the government market.

Richard Cordray is right to crack down on illegal practices in payday lending. It is essential that his agency also ensure consumers continue to have online access to emergency credit products.

John Keach Jr., the chairman and CEO of Indiana Community Bancorp, which agreed to sell to a rival this week, speaks for many bankers in ticking off the threats to going it alone as a community bank — and explains why his bank decided it had to get out now.

Buoyed by a lower loan-loss provision, Lakeland Financial Corp. in Warsaw, Ind., said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profits rose 43% from a year earlier, to $8.3 million.

Prepaid card companies have had great success at attracting the underbanked, but their prices remain high compared to banks' — and they might have no choice but to keep them high.

Umpqua Holdings Corp. in Portland, Ore., said late Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit was nearly triple that of a year earlier, due largely to improved asset quality.

S.Y. Bancorp Inc. in Louisville, Ky., reported Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profits climbed 5% from a year earlier, to $6.3 million, because of tax adjustments.

Banks lost billions of dollars in overdraft revenue last year, even as they passed on higher fees to consumers, according to a study by Moebs Services Inc.

Tompkins Financial Corp. in Ithaca, N.Y., reported higher quarterly and annual earnings on Wednesday despite mounting pressure in its net interest margin.