TD Bank's charitable foundation plans to award $2.5 million in grants to nonprofits that support affordable housing initiatives.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued new guidance on its policies for approving and recertifying condominium projects that are eligible for Federal Housing Administration financing.

American Express Co. has made sponsorship deals designating its brand as the official card of two major entertainment venues and three professional teams, the company announced June 30.

Most prepaid cardholders are content with their cards, with nine out of 10 customers "extremely" or "very" satisfied with their prepaid cards. However, issuers could do more to keep customers for the long haul, research suggests.

Visa Inc. is expanding efforts to promote its prepaid card products through sponsorship of the Essence Music Festival that took place in New Orleans over the July 4 weekend.

The "luxury" experience at a Four Seasons hotel stay was not produced by facilities. It was produced by human interaction.

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The Federal Housing Administration is considering tightening borrowers' debt-to-income ratios, a move that would prevent the most highly leveraged consumers from qualifying to buy a home.

Regulators are hitting banks with fewer enforcement actions, but don't assume that means the industry's getting healthier. The decline could merely reflect a shrinking pool of candidates for regulators to flag for errant behavior, some industry observers say.

Increases in initial public offerings would normally benefit banks, but a recent surge in IPO activity is instead threatening to further shrink lenders' balance sheets.

Western Union Co. has struck a deal that will make it a competitor, and also a potential partner, for banks trying to capture a bigger chunk of the business payments market.

Citing alleged conflicts of interest in the negotiation of the deal, an investor in two mortgage-backed securities trusts has sought to exempt itself from the $8.5 billion deal and to force a deeper review of Countrywide's practices.

Sandler O'Neill investment banker Emmett J. Daly shares his outlook on bank mergers in an interview with American Banker.

Linda Nahra, the president and chief executive at Community West Bancshares in Goleta, Calif., has notified the company that she is stepping down at the end of the month to pursue another business opportunity.

As she departs as head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after a historic period of financial tumult and regulatory reform, Sheila Bair wishes more regulators felt empowered to be candid with the public about their views, even if they rock the boat.

Discover Financial Services' stock price fell as much as 3% on Friday after the company disclosed that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is reviewing its marketing of payment protection and other fee-based products.

Glen A. Messina is the new chief operating officer at PHH Corp. in Mount Laurel, N.J., where he will oversee, among other things, the operations of PHH Mortgage.

Private National Mortgage Acceptance Corp. plans to make a big splash in warehouse lending and late last week unveiled the leader of the effort: Paul Szymanski, once a top warehouse executive at the No. 1 player in that niche, Bank of America.