The total number of consumer statute lawsuits filed in the Oct. 16-31 period reached 503, a slight increase from 497 in the first half of October and bringing the month's total to 1,000, according to data from U.S. District Courts.

Preferred Financial Solutions Inc., an Indianapolis-based debt settlement company, has paid $175,000 to West Virginia as part of a settlement with the state's attorney general involving its operations.

Northwest Bancshares Inc. of Warren, Pa., has called off its deal to buy NexTier Inc. of Butler, Pa., at the urging of regulators after Northwest's consumer-compliance program was called into question.

Nearly two years after the regulator let a film crew tag along as it seized the $232 million-asset company in a segment for the news program "60 Minutes," the FDIC is going after former officers and directors. In what is expected to be the first of many professional-liability lawsuits against individuals associated with failed banks, the FDIC wants to recoup some losses sustained by its Deposit Insurance Fund in the current economic cycle.

The FDIC is set to make a massive change to the way it calculates premiums, releasing a proposal Tuesday that would force banks to pay assessments based on total liabilities.

David Earls, a financial adviser at Workers' Credit Union, says a series of misconceptions by other advisers about blue-collar people has helped his business to thrive.

Minority banks have a central role to play in our nation's future economic growth, but first they must respond to two challenges — the unprecedented collapse in real estate values and the wave of consolidation sweeping through the banking system.

Circumstances beyond its control drove Sallie Mae into retail banking, but the venture, once a stopgap, is now the cornerstone of its survival strategy.

Though banks surveyed by the Federal Reserve have reported a gradual loosening of credit standards in recent quarters, it may be a while before lending standards return to normal.

RICHLAND, Wash. – HAPO Community CU has hired a local architectural firm to design a renovation and addition to its 47,000 square-foot offices.

Regulators failed four banks late Friday, pushing the total number of collapses this year to 143. Closures are now are at their highest point since the S&L crisis.

The Office of Thrift Supervision has given Superior Bancorp of Birmingham, Ala., until the end of March to strengthen capital ratios significantly.

The largest shareholder of Sterling Bancshares Inc. is preparing for a proxy contest to overhaul the Houston company's board.

The private-equity commitments that Central Pacific Financial Corp. of Honolulu touted in its Nov. 2 earnings release have been finalized.

Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc. posted a surprise third-quarter loss on Oct. 22 from an unexpected, and unwelcome, event: its charging off of the decline in collateral values for all of its criticized loans.

A federal court entered a judgment of more than $3.6 million against a payment processor and its subsidiary that allegedly debited consumers’ bank accounts illegally on behalf of deceptive telemarketers, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Friday.

Unicredit America Inc., an Erie, Pa.-based collection agency, collected money from unsuspecting consumers by pretending to hold hearings in a room decorated to look like a courtroom, according to a lawsuit filed Friday against the company in Pennsylvania.

North American Financial Holdings Inc. is set to pick up a big chunk of a North Carolina bank in a bid to build a Southeast powerhouse.

A handful of small banks have also struck deals recently that will heighten their name recognition and allow them to cull customers out of massive audiences.

AscendOne Corp., a Columbia, Md.-based debt management business, will pay $4.5 million to settle charges that the company misled consumers about its for-profit status.