New York

First Niagara Financial in Buffalo, N.Y., plans to close 17 branches and two drive-through locations in January.

Astoria Financial in Lake Success, N.Y., has hired former KeyCorp executive Hugh Donlon to be its chief lending officer.

Putnam County Savings Bank in Brewster, N.Y., has agreed to buy CMS Bancorp in White Plains, N.Y.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed into law a measure that allows financial institutions to offer raffle-style programs to encourage saving.

Palisades Federal Credit Union in Pearl River, N.Y., has appointed Juan "Tony" Molina as the$163 million credit union's new president and chief executive.

BETHPAGE, N.Y. — A couple of key fraud- fighting partnerships have helped Bethpage FCU save about $200,000 for its 250,000 members over just the last six months.

Three New York bank tellers have been arrested and accused of participating in an identity theft ring, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday.

City National Bank of New Jersey has agreed to sell deposits and loans associated with a branch on New York's Long Island to Bethpage Federal Credit Union.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has appointed Minerva Tantoco, a former executive at UBS and Bank of America, as the city's chief technology officer.

First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo, N.Y., has consolidated several consumer-banking business lines into one department.

Intervest Bancshares in New York has officially exited the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Jane Thompson, the former head of the financial services division at Wal-Mart Stores, has joined the board of OnDeck, a small business lending company in New York.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has charged Evans Bancorp in Hamburg, N.Y., with deliberately failing to provide mortgages in minority neighborhoods in Buffalo.

Financial Institutions in Warsaw, N.Y., is overhauling its risk-management structure, while also looking for a new executive to handle such duties.

Pathfinder Bancorp in Oswego, N.Y., could raise nearly $27 million through a second-step conversion.

Stephen E. Dowd, the chief financial officer of CMS Bancorp in White Plains, N.Y., has died. The $273 million-asset company announced Dowd’s “unexpected passing” in a press release on Friday.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NCUA has received nearly $5.4 million in restitution from a fraud prosecution by the U.S. Attorney's office of the Northern District of New York.

NEW YORK — The U.S. payments system's march toward EMV is gaining steam, according to the Payments Security Task Force.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it will cut its stake in Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY) by selling stock on the open market in its first divestiture since an initial public offering in April.

Centrue Financial in Ottawa, Ill., said Monday that it has agreed to sell $75 million of its common stock to the New York private-equity group Capital Z Partners.