Finance

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers on the financial services panel introduced legislation Wednesday that would help banks remotely open accounts.

Bank of Commerce in Sarasota, Fla., will change hands following a bankruptcy auction.

Technology Crossover Ventures sees a mashup of several hot financial technology trends in international payments gateway Payoneer, sparking its participation in a new $180 million round of capital.

Medallion Bank in New York has sold its asset-based lending division to an unnamed buyer.

Shiv Govindan at Pilgrims & Indians Capital has kept a relatively low profile as a bank investor. But two key board appointments at struggling community banks promise to make him a more visible player in the industry.

Revere Bank in Laurel, Md., has raised $31 million in a subordinated debt offering that it plans to use for M&A and other purposes.

The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a free-speech clash with big stakes for retailers and credit-card companies, agreeing to decide the fate of laws in 10 states that limit how merchants can describe the lower prices they charge for cash transactions.

First Internet Bancorp in Fishers, Ind., has issued $25 million in subordinated debt and intends to use the proceeds to support its rapid growth and perhaps for future acquisitions.

Amex has been given the court's blessing to deter merchants from steering consumers away from its pricier cards, raising questions for those pushing newer loyalty strategies.

Bank of Southern California in San Diego has agreed to sell $7 million of its common stock to the asset management firm Castle Creek Capital.

First Merchants Corp. in Muncie, Ind., has agreed to buy a minority stake in Independent Alliance Banks in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The $2.2 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it redeemed $12.2 million, the remaining half of its SBLF shares, on Sept. 22 at a liquidation value of $1,000 each for $12.4 million.

In 2010, lawmakers passed bipartisan reforms to bring transparency and competition to a debit card swipe fee market that had previously been void of both. Now, members of Congress want to undo that progress.

Only a dozen banks still owe the government Troubled Asset Relief Program money, and an unspecified number of others including Reliance Bancshares in St. Louis owe investors who bought their Tarp balances. But Reliance has made problem loans vanish and has a credit line in hand to help retire its $62 million Tarp-related debt.

Home BancShares co-founder and Chairman John Allison is shrinking his ownership stake in the Conway, Ark., company for estate-planning purposes.

Farmers Capital Bank in Frankfort, Ky., has announced a plan to restructure its balance sheet.

CapStar Financial Holdings in Nashville, Tenn., expects to raise net proceeds of $16.6 million in an initial public offering that it plans to spend on growth and other initiatives — perhaps including M&A.

The high volume of commercial mortgages maturing this year has left some property owners scrambling for funds to refinance. Not so for these eight landlords, who took advantage of the strong price appreciation of their iconic office buildings, luxury hotels, super regional shopping malls, and a portfolio of rental homes, to cash out — in some cases, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars of equity. Bank commercial real estate lenders, who know all too well the cyclical nature of this sector, will want to take a close look at these transactions, details courtesy of our colleagues at Asset Securitization Report.

BankGuam Holding in Hagatna aims to raise $10 million through the sale of preferred stock.

The LegacyTexas Financial Group in Plano sold $50 million in debt to use for possible acquisitions and other purposes.