The Latest

Western Alliance Bancorp. in Phoenix has agreed to buy GE Capital's hotel franchise finance loan portfolio.

ESSA Bancorp in Stroudsburg, Pa., has a new chairman and two new independent directors.

ConnectOne Bancorp in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund program.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has hired Jeffrey Zaks, a CIT Group banker, to lead its new media and entertainment lending group.

The CFPB's latest monthly report on complaints from consumers focuses on debt collection complaints.

Credit unions have a dominant auto lending presence in the West, boasting as much as a 50% market share in some areas. Credit Union Journal explores what is driving that dominance.

The Coalition for Safe Loan Alternatives intends to become a peer-to-peer forum for best practices among the alternatives to payday loans. The group will not advocate for policy changes. Rather, it aims to offer a platform for local organizations to share information and compare ways to offer low-cost access to credit.

A court ruling that struck down key sections of a Missouri law limiting the ability of cities to profit from court fines and traffic tickets will be appealed by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster.

The Coalition for Safe Loan Alternatives intends to become a peer-to-peer forum for best practices among the alternatives to payday loans. The group will not advocate for policy changes. Rather it aims to offer a platform for local organizations to share information and compare ways to offer low-cost access to credit.

A recent meeting with the OCC is giving mutual thrifts hope that they can find a way to bring in more capital before the next recession. The OCC, while open to a solution, is keen to protect the rights of those institutions' deposit holders.