A collection agency owned by a convicted felon, and recently accused of using strong-arm tactics, has been barred from collecting debts in Colorado, the state's Attorney General John Suthers announced today.

The National Credit Union Administration announced Thursday that it has added eight credit unions to its troubled-institution list and set aside another $170 million to cover losses at credit unions.

The Federal Reserve has ordered Albina Community Bancorp in Portland, Ore., to serve as a source of strength to its struggling community development bank.

Astoria Financial Corp. in Lake Success, N.Y., says it wants to be ready to raise capital should it need it.

Cadence Financial Corp. in Starkville, Miss., plans to raise as much as $92 million to satisfy a recent regulatory consent order.

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Troubled debt restructurings are on the rise, and they're causing regulatory headaches for bankers worried about how to properly designate and disclose the modified loans.

With the latest allegations about Goldman Sachs and others, it seems the public is ready to believe that everyone in a bank must be a crook. I, for one, do not believe it.

DALLAS — The Texas Education Agency will distribute more than $1 billion of federally subsidized qualified school construction bonds to local districts under an allocation procedure issued Monday.

WASHINGTON — The House Financial Services Committee approved a bill Wednesday to create a $30 billion fund to encourage small-business lending, despite Republican objections that the legislation was another version of the unpopular Troubled Asset Relief Program.

RESTON, Va. – Student loan giant Sallie Mae announced the sale of its Killeen, Texas, customer service center to Aegis Ltd, part of the Indian conglomerate Essar Group, and the transfer of its 350 employees to Aegis.

ELM GROVE, Wis. – Enterprise CU has leased 10,000 square feet of office space in nearby Brookfield, where it plans to relocate its headquarters.

LAKE JACKSON, Texas – Texas Dow Employees CU held a grand opening for its newest branch, in Pearland, the $1.5 billion credit union’s 18th branch and 22nd service facility in Texas.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – ESL FCU, the state’s largest credit union, will host a ribbon-cutting for its new $55 million headquarters which is eyed as a keystone to the renewal to the downtown area here.

OSHTEMO, Mich. – Consumers CU opened its 13th West Michigan location, in the Kalamazoo Mall in the heart of downtown Kalamazoo.

NEW ENGLAND

A day after financial companies banded together to rescue ShoreBank in Chicago with a $140 million investment, two Republican lawmakers are asking President Obama about his involvement.

Charter Financial Corp. of West Point, Ga., has opted for a road less traveled after shareholders balked at its plan to convert to a fully public company.

The Treasury Department said it expects to make $5.4 million from the sale of warrants to purchase common stock of Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J.

WASHINGTON — Financial institutions are sounding the alarm over an amendment to the Senate bill that many initially deemed harmless but now see as threatening a key source of capital: trust-preferred securities.