The Justice Department on Thursday ordered First Niagara Financial Group to sell 26 of the branches it has agreed to buy from HSBC Holdings. The branches are in the Buffalo area and have $1.6 billion of deposits.

Consumer groups that have already raised questions about Capital One Financial Corp.'s purchase of Internet bank ING Direct USA have now turned their attention to the bank's purchase of the credit card portfolio of HSBC Holdings PLC.

The New York banking department has reached an agreement with Morgan Stanley to implement new mortgage servicing standards after signing a similar deal with Goldman Sachs in September.

The branch banking model is outdated, and not just because many still use pneumatic tubes at the drive-through lane.

Federal regulators have ordered 14 mortgage services to help borrowers that were harmed by foreclosure errors, but left it up to them to develop common remediation guidelines. The servicers and their consultants met in Washington this week to try and reach a consensus.

Families that own capital-starved banks are facing the decision whether to raise capital from outside investors — saving the banks but diluting their own stakes — or to keep pumping money into them to keep them alive.

Banks should adhere to high moral standards by discouraging people from going needlessly into debt. The concept of "fly now, pay later" does not promote consumers’ financial responsibility.

Vantiv Inc., parent of Cincinnati-based payment processor Vantiv LLC, filed an initial public offering of $100 million of Class A common shares, saying it will use the proceeds to repay loans and redeem Class B units.

Sandra Fisher Martins will brook no lawyerly explanations for impenetrable, convoluted writing. People have a “right to understand,” she says in a recently posted TED video.

American Express Co. and vente-privee.com on Wednesday launched their joint venture, a website featuring member-only sales of luxury goods from European and American designers.

For consumers, transferring banks is more difficult than it sounds. For banks, losing shifting deposits can make for surprising winners and losers.

The nation's 10 largest retail banks are at risk of losing $185 billion of deposits over the next year as customers will look to move primary accounts to community and regional banks that they perceive as being more consumer friendly.

Delinquencies in the $30 billion portfolio rose in the third quarter, but its sale to Capital One is still on, HSBC executive says.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has reintroduced legislation that would allow states to cap the interest rates on credit cards used by their residents.

CFG Community hires Daniel McKew as president two weeks after his resignation from the larger 1st Mariner.

Overdraft elephants are hiding in plain sight in bank and credit union boardrooms. No one admits seeing them. No one talks about them. The less said the better.

Sen. Richard Shelby on Wednesday called for the Senate to pass a bill that would exempt more small banks from securities registration requirements.

Ginnie Mae reported a $1.2 billion profit from its secondary market operations in fiscal year 2011 — up 84% from FY 2010 — due to lower loss provisioning.

Maybe James A. Bell can bring a few defense products to JPMorgan Chase & Co. board meetings to deflect some of the vitriol aimed at Wall Street.

Times are pretty good for ag lenders — that's why they are nervous.