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WASHINGTON — Banks have loosened underwriting standards for the third year in a row, reaching levels that are now similar to the 2005-7 period before the financial crisis, according to a report released Wednesday by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Visa Inc. has started marketing what’s poised to be one of the biggest bond offerings of the year to finance its 21.2 billion euro ($23.3 billion) takeover of Visa Europe Ltd.

CIT Group will pay about $60 million in severance to 14 executives who have been dismissed or left the company, as it continues to shuffle its executive lineup following its August acquisition of OneWest Bank.

The National Payments Corporation of India has awarded a contract to RS Software to construct a digital payments platform.

The House Financial Services Committee approved a data security bill Tuesday that would require all financial companies to have similar security protections and notification requirements as banks.

The window is rapidly closing for the inclusion of key banking measures in the budget package as lawmakers remain sharply divided over the bill.

Carolina Financial in Charleston, S.C., plans to raise $30 million in a public offering of its common stock.

Bank of Lancaster in Kilmarnock, Va. has promoted Susan Pittman to the newly created position of chief lending officer.

Umpqua Holdings wants other banks to join its recently announced innovation lab in Silicon Valley. The company says if smaller banks pool resources they can compete with the deep pockets of the big banks in disruption.

The window is rapidly closing for the inclusion of key credit union measures in the budget package as lawmakers remain sharply divided over the bill.