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To address investor preference for Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities over Freddie Mac bonds, the GSEs' regulator, Federal Housing Finance Agency, could create a single instrument that includes loans guaranteed by both.

Daryl Byrd, the CEO of Iberiabank (IBKC) says a wave of bank mergers is inevitable and will be larger than expected. Rusty Cloutier, his counterpart at MidSouth Bancorp (MSL), says a lack of able buyers is miring consolidation.

In a legal filing, the OCC made its argument that regulators acted appropriately when they closed the Denver thrift in early 2010.

Green Dot Corp. said Monday that it has signed a new multi-year distribution deal with Dollar Tree Inc. and extended its contracts with other partners.

Yahoo said it is selling up to half its stake in Alibaba Group back to the company.

Small-business owners are struggling to grow and hire — and they're blaming difficulties in securing financing, according to a Pepperdine University business school survey.

Banks are doing what they can to avoid depressing home prices, by focusing on reducing foreclosures rather than flooding the market with their backlog of properties.

A government watchdog is recommending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau implement several additional internal controls to avoid misappropriation of assets or inaccurate financial statements.

The number of women serving as bank directors has hardly changed in the past decade and this year's annual meetings are doing little to move the needle.

Efforts to bring back a private-label residential mortgage-backed securities market have not been quick or wholly successful at this point. But they are persistent, which is why they will ultimately succeed.

PHH Corp. Monday morning named former General Electric energy executive David E. Tucker president of its mortgage division.

Union Bankshares of Morrisville, Vt., has named its president, David S. Silverman, as chief executive after Kenneth D. Gibbons stepped down from the position.

FNB United (FNBN) in Asheboro, N.C., is planning to sell up to two million shares of its common stock in a move that could net it close to $60 million of fresh capital.

The flagging bank M&A market needs a revival. This week bank executives and investors are sharing strategies to bring back the deals.

WASHINGTON – Members of the credit union-start-up REALTORS FCU, billed as the nation's first virtual credit union, voted over the weekend during the annual convention of its sponsor, the National Association of REALTORS, to merge the $75 million credit union into nearby giant Northwest FCU.

More than 100 former HSBC Bank branches across upstate New York and Connecticut are now operating as branches of First Niagara Bank.

If online and mobile channels are so crucially important, why don't credit unions spend the money to reflect that?

Online account opening has a strong future, but it's not there yet-and it's the primary reason the physical branch will have a robust role well into the near future, according to Scott Hodgins, research director for Cornerstone Advisors.

In a time most financial institutions are hesitant to open so much as one new branch, $130-million Community First Credit Union has found success opening three "smart offices" in the heart of California's wine country.