United Security Bancshares in Thomasville, Ala., has recruited its next chief financial officer from Regions Financial.

The $4.24 billion-asset Banner said Tuesday it has agreed to buy Home Federal Bancorp (HOME) in Nampa, Idaho, for $197 million in cash and stock.

The $979 million-asset company plans to offer up to 1.4 million shares of common stock at $19 per share, according to a Sept. 12 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Banks with assets of less than $50 billion will get a one-year reprieve from making their stress tests and capital plans adhere to Basel III standards, the Federal Reserve Board said Tuesday.

The CEO of HSBC USA says that stricter regulation is crucial to strengthening the banking system and winning back customers' trust, but she remains frustrated by the glacial pace of the rulemaking.

Bank of America's Countrywide unit sold thousands of bad loans, defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of more than $1 billion in mortgages, the U.S. said at the start of a federal trial.

Country Club Bank in Kansas City, Mo., has promoted several executives.

Wells Fargo persuaded a U.S. judge to dismiss some claims against it in a lawsuit by the federal government accusing the lender of home mortgage fraud because they were filed too late.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed to pursue and collect deficiencies from foreclosed borrowers who had the ability to repay, according to an inspector general's report released Tuesday.

Independence Bancshares (IEBS) in Greenville, S.C., has hired two former Verizon executives — Aditya Khurjekar and Humphrey Chen — to broaden its mobile-banking services.

JPMorgan Chase resumed settlement talks with the U.S. as it was preparing to sue the bank in California federal court alleging it misrepresented the quality of mortgage-backed securities it sold from 2005 to 2007, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A senior executive at OFG Bancorp (OFG) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is moving to the top ranks of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York.

Revisions to banks' duties under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act are coming soon, and they are meant to "ease the operational and technological burdens" of banks, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said.

Saddle River Valley Bank, which was bought last year by Center Bancorp, allegedly failed to adequately monitor transactions with currency exchange houses in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

Sen. Bob Corker, a co-author of legislation to overhaul the mortgage finance market, forcefully defended his proposal that private capital take at least 10% of the first loss on mortgage-backed securities. Others predicted that he'll have to water it down to advance the bill.

Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., is offering to sell up to $125 million of subordinated notes to repay its trust-preferred debt.

First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo, N.Y., has promoted Tom Faughnan to become senior director of its residential mortgage business.

To succeed today, financial firms need to encourage female employees to take the right kind of risks, such as trying new innovations to serve clients.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto said the central bank is working to improve the speed and security of the U.S. payments system.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays Plc, Credit Suisse Group AG and 10 other international lenders were sued by a U.S. credit union regulator alleging they illegally manipulated benchmark Libor interest rates.