First Niagara has to solve the riddle of how to pay for HSBC's branches in New York and Connecticut without hurting shareholders, selling off too many assets or mistiming the helter-skelter stock markets.

Sometimes a quarterly report includes a noteworthy item that happened after the quarter ended. Porter Bancorp Inc. in Louisville, Ky., had three of them.

First Midwest Bank has agreed to use anti-fraud technology from PhoneFactor to improve security for online banking.

Credit unions have benefited from Bank Transfer Day and consumer anger over bank fees, but the data on membership and deposit gains offered by the Credit Union National Association looks inflated.

Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc. in Norfolk, Va., has completed the sale of a Gateway Bank branch to Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc. in Luray, Va.

The protracted auction of EMI Group neared a conclusion Friday, with Citigroup Inc., owner of the storied British music company, selecting buyers for its publishing arm and recorded-music label - at a price that well exceeds many industry watchers' expectations.

The title of Javelin Strategy & Research's blog entry today nearly says it all: "Occupy Oakland deposits $20,000 with … Wells Fargo."

State regulators closed the $62.4 million-asset Community Bank of Rockmart in Georgia on Thursday, the 88th failure this year.

Through fever waves of populist anger including the Occupy Wall Street protests, there has been no sign that disgusted customers are draining the giant banks of their deposits.

First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. in Chula Vista, Calif., reported that third-quarter earnings fell 82% from a year earlier, to $506,000, after income from lending fell and expenses jumped.

Two banking companies owned by North American Financial Holdings — TIB Financial and Capital Bank — posted turnarounds in quarterly earnings after their takeover and recapitalization.

Two former executives of Orion Bank, Angel Guerzon and Thomas Hebble, were banned from banking by the Federal Reserve Board due to their participation in "unsafe and unsound practices, breaches of fiduciary duty, and violations of law and regulation," the agency said in a press release.

At a time when banks' relationships with their customers are on the rocks, loan facilitator Weemba uses the tactics of online dating to help lenders build stronger connections.

In the wake of the financial meltdown of 2008, an increasingly persistent attack on money market mutual funds is underway. Present and former high government officials, academics, and some editorial writers have joined the fray, each offering their own approach for reengineering the money fund industry.

Four community bankers on the hunt for acquisitions warned prospective sellers that they will have little say in how much they get paid.

Trade group for retail banking adds six new members to its staff.

Some banks are starting to notice the poor customers they have long ignored. Regions Financial Corp. is one of several banks expanding its check-cashing and the other "alternative" financial services that have long been offered by Wal-Mart and other non-banks.

The Justice Department on Thursday ordered First Niagara Financial Group to sell 26 of the branches it has agreed to buy from HSBC Holdings. The branches are in the Buffalo area and have $1.6 billion of deposits.

Consumer groups that have already raised questions about Capital One Financial Corp.'s purchase of Internet bank ING Direct USA have now turned their attention to the bank's purchase of the credit card portfolio of HSBC Holdings PLC.

The New York banking department has reached an agreement with Morgan Stanley to implement new mortgage servicing standards after signing a similar deal with Goldman Sachs in September.