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Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it agreed to settle a U.S. probe into its handling of mortgage-backed securities for about $5.1 billion, cutting fourth-quarter profit by about $1.5 billion and closing out a year of record legal and litigation costs.

Several Republican presidential candidates called for a rollback of regulations on Thursday, saying that over-regulation is choking off job growth and the economy.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Cash remains the payment method of choice for nearly four out of five consumers needing to pay someone back, including the notoriously tech-savvy millennials.

Sometimes a big crash throttles the peloton and gives a few riders a chance to breakaway. In 2016, that is what we will see in the world of mobile payments. As EMV and Loyalty 1.0 eat the pavement, they will enable mobile payments, Loyalty 2.0 and new Uber-style apps to separate from the pack.

The $22 billion-asset Winstrust said in a press release Thursday that it will pay $30 million in cash for the parent of the $125 million-asset Foundations Bank.

An international regulatory body said this week that they are looking at setting new, enhanced leverage ratio requirements for the largest global banks, a move that echoes the higher standards in the U.S.' supplemental leverage ratio and demonstrates why going beyond international accords can influence the rest of the world.

First Business Financial Services in Madison, Wis., said it has hired Edward Sloane Jr. to be its next chief financial officer.

Firstrust Bank has signed a marketing deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, even though the NBA team plays in an arena emblazoned with the name of another bank — and will until 2024.

Bank chiefs should brace for a barrage of questions about economic uncertainty, if JPMorgan Chase's experience after releasing fourth-quarter results is any indication. Double-digit increases in loans and profits were not enough to stave off questions about the odds of recession, energy risks and adequacy of reserves.