Yields on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage securities that guide home-loan rates tumbled relative to Treasuries after the Federal Reserve said it will reinvest proceeds from past purchases of housing debt into the bonds.

American Banker editors discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding and structure.

The Fed launched "Operation Twist," agreeing to sell $400 billion in short-term Treasuries in exchange for longer-term holdings by next June to help bolster U.S. economy.

Chief executives of small banks discuss efforts to find new sources of non-interest income and cuts costs at a recent industry conference.

When fraud happens, consumers complain constantly — to their banks, to their friends, and to anyone on the Internet who will listen. BillGuard, a New York company founded last year, pools these complaints to help flag fraudulent transactions that affect multiple consumers at once.

BB&T, which took over Colonial Bank after it was seized by regulators, is now asking one of those authorities, the FDIC, to protect it from a $300 million suit brought by creditors of the Alabama bank's former parent, Colonial BancGroup.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Bank of America Corp.'s and Wells Fargo & Co.'s long-term ratings and the short-term ratings of Citigroup Inc., finishing a more than three-month review by saying it believes the U.S. government is less likely to support the banks if needed.

Britton & Koontz Capital Corp. in Natchez, Miss., said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that it was amending its previous financial statements for the three- and six-month periods that ended June 30.

Banks are increasingly using mobile devices as an added layer of authentication for online banking, but messages sent to a phone can be intercepted. A security method developed in South Africa may close that security hole.

Ecommerce software company Rearden Commerce has raised $133 million in new funding from investors Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and American Express Co.

State Street Corp. has agreed to purchase a Boston brokerage firm, Pulse Trading Inc.

Consumers are sharing more personal information online than ever — but they don't want to share it with banks. A few companies are trying to find a middle ground, helping consumers connect to lenders without exposing even basic contact information until absolutely necessary.

Home sales in California, the most populous U.S. state, are likely to rise 1% in 2012 after being "essentially flat" this year, the California Association of Realtors forecast Tuesday.

Builders began work on fewer U.S. homes than forecast in August, showing the industry remains flat on its back even as mortgage rates fall to record lows.

The specter of "too big to fail," coupled with the usual fuming by community groups over Capital One's CRA record, made for a dramatic nine hours — and counting.

IMGCAP(1)]

American Express has purchased Sometrics, a company that facilitates payments within electronic games using virtual currency, in a deal worth $30 million, the company confirmed Tuesday.

Wintrust Financial in Illinois is tired of hiding behind numerous brand names. The $15 billion-asset company has launched an advertising campaign to aggressively introduce the Wintrust brand in Chicago.

An ideological divide in the party has prevented a resolution to the GSE problem, the West Virginia Republican said. More help will be needed from the White House, too, she said.

The Florida appeals court ruling could make it harder for mortgage servicers to use such records as evidence for foreclosure without verifying the underlying information.