Afni, a Bloomington, Ill.-based collection agency, will close its call center in Peoria, Ill. and lay off 300 employees, the company announced Thursday. The decision is a result of call reductions from clients.

The board of directors at VIST Financial (VIST) in Wyomissing, Pa., has formed a special litigation committee to investigate shareholder claims that the board breached its fiduciary duty when it agreed to sell VIST to an upstate New York company for $86 million.

Bank of Montreal (BMO) is buying CTC Consulting LLC of Portland, Ore., in order to build its clout among ultra-rich clients south of the border.

Alliance Data Systems (ADS) has agreed to buy the existing private-label credit card portfolio of jewelry retailer Premier Designs.

Pacific Capital's calculus was simple: Texas financier Gerald Ford, majority owner of the California bank, decided its shares would never trade as high as the price UnionBanCal was willing to pay.

Improved asset quality and declining expenses powered Washington Federal in Seattle to a $34 million profit in the quarter that ended March 31, a 32% increase from the same period in 2011.

NBNK Investments PLC Thursday made a sweetened offer for 632 branches belonging to Lloyds Banking Group PLC, as the investment vehicle ups the ante on its bid to create a challenger bank in the U.K.

The period when banks report their first quarter financial performance is about to begin. These performance numbers will likely reinforce the reality that, absent significant changes, many banks simply cannot attain the level of profitability needed to remain viable.

More than one month after the Oklahoma Senate passed the Bartmann Ethical Debt Collection Act by a 40-2 vote, the state's House of Representatives has referred the bill for additional study.

U.S. banks and other shoppers were ready to feast on asset sales by troubled European banks, but debt finance expert Stephen Gillespie explains how accounting issues, regulatory policy and other factors have interfered.

First Mariner and Beneficial Mutual are among the banks that have gained large stakes in competitors after borrowers defaulted on loans where stock was pledged as collateral.

Heritage Financial Group (HBOS) of Albany, Ga., is entering neighboring Alabama with an agreement to buy a branch in Auburn from the banking unit of Community Capital Bancshares.

Actor Ashton Kutcher has invested in mobile payments provider Dwolla and wants to "build a killer [bleeping] company in Iowa."

With big deals still lacking, some bankers — including Umpqua's Ray Davis — are resorting to several small ones to move the needle.

Roughly 33 full-timers will lose their jobs when Ally Financial closes its MBS broker/dealer operation, according to a company spokeswoman.

Intuit has purchased the mobile commerce provider AisleBuyer.

Umpqua Holdings bought an open bank Tuesday for the first time in years, and like many of its peers chose a low-risk target that promises niche growth and little blowback from shareholders.

Capital One Financial (COF) in McLean, Va., has slashed nearly 500 assistant branch manager positions nationwide in a cost-cutting move aimed it improving its overall efficiency.

Alloya Corporate Federal Credit Union of Warrenville, Ill., the survivor of what was once Members United Corporate FCU, said Tuesday it has signed a letter of intent to combine with Central Corporate Credit Union of Michigan, creating the nation's largest corporate with almost $5 billion in assets.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s (GS) co-head of global mergers and acquisitions Yoel Zaoui is stepping down from his post, the latest high-level exit at the Wall Street firm.