The Minneapolis company has inked a deal to buy 105 Chicago-area branches of Citizens Financial Group, the U.S. bank owned by Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Crain's Chicago Business reported Monday.

The Denver city council passed a proclamation Monday asking that Colorado's legal marijuana businesses be granted access to the nation's banking system.

Cincinnati's First Financial Bancorp amassed a lot of capital thanks to failed-bank deals but took its time deciding what to do with it. Its three recent expansion moves put it in the company of other failed-bank buyers that are shifting to open-bank M&A.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has expanded its recently created health care unit with the hiring of Randall Boba as first vice president and senior portfolio manager.

Elmira Savings Bank (ESBK) in Elmira, N.Y., has redeemed the remaining $3.5 million of preferred stock issued to the Treasury Department through the Small Business Lending Fund.

The Target Corp. data breach just before the holiday shopping season triggered another round of rhetoric on the merits and shortcomings of chip-based cards. But the breach's direct effect on merchant EMV plans is largely up in the air.

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission is barring Bitcoin ATMs because the country's regulatory body views Bitcoin as a false currency that should not be used by people or banks for payments.

Banking is increasingly a data-driven business. By creating a shared data and analytics utility, community banks could glean valuable insights on their business currently available only to large institutions.

Activist investor PL Capital has taken a $3.5 million stake in Old Point Financial (OPOF) in Hampton, Va.

After Decatur First Bank failed, Judy Turner could have been blacklisted from banking. But she was hired by another bank looking to enter a new market -- and she is making a solid comeback.

A computer glitch at PNC Financial (PNC) last week delayed overnight processing for some customer transactions.

Bank of the West said Monday it will continue to offer interest-only mortgages to borrowers even though such loans are excluded from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's qualified mortgage rule that goes into effect Jan. 10.

First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) in Cincinnati is entering the Fort Wayne, Ind., market with the establishment of commercial and residential mortgage teams there.

Susquehanna Bancshares (SUSQ) in Lititz, Pa., has hired Kevin Burns as chief risk officer and executive vice president.

Macatawa Bank (MCBC) in Holland, Mich., has exchanged all of its outstanding preferred stock for common stock and cash to simplify its capital structure and direct dividends to investors.

Pulaski Financial (PULB) in St. Louis has appointed two executives to lead its mortgage division.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) will pay $2 billion in penalties to settle charges that it ignored warning signs of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, according to multiple news reports.

American Express Co. and Discover Financial Services are among financial firms more at risk of losing customer deposits than traditional banks as interest rates rise, according to Fitch Ratings.

The second half of December is generally a slow period for news, with many people on vacation and businesses and government closed on holidays. Still, banks made a number of significant announcements this holiday season. In many cases the timing of disclosures may have been driven by circumstance - regulators appeared eager to wrap up settlements by yearend.

JPMorgan Chase agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh after a judge ordered the JPMorgan to turn over the government's draft complaint at the center of its $13 billion deal with regulators.