With a new line of products, Flagstar Bancorp in Troy, Mich., is following through with a plan to increase its commercial business.

The $7.8 billion-asset company in Itasca, Ill., announced late Monday that the bank's president and chief executive, Thomas J. Schwartz, plans to step down from those positions at the end of the year.

Adding to the recent string of small-bank acquisitions, German American Bancorp Inc. in Jasper, Ind., is purchasing American Community Bancorp Inc.

Nexity Financial Corp. in Birmingham, Ala., which has been operating under bankruptcy court protection, is shedding its wealth management division.

Monterey County Bank settled with the FDIC over allegations that certain credit and debit practices were "deceptive," the agency said Tuesday.

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Community banks are slogging through the muck, making some progress toward recovery and hoping that things don't get much worse.

Fair-value accounting for trading instruments makes sense. But introducing these accounting methods for traditional products held in banks' portfolios is irrational and will provide no benefit to the industry, consumers or regulators.

Senator Carl Levin thinks that banks should be forced to allow consumers to "opt in" to any type of overdraft program because of what he perceives as abusive overdraft programs.

Saehan Bank, a unit of Saehan Bancorp, has agreed to pay $2.2 million to the United States to settle allegations that it misrepresented or withheld information to get the Small Business Administration to fund loans.

Raising capital through the stock market has become a dicey prospect for banking companies, with a growing number delaying such offerings while others are pursuing alternate funding routes.

Western Liberty Bancorp is one step closer to becoming one of the only blank-check companies to break into banking.

Mission Valley Bancorp in Sun Valley, Calif., said Monday that it received $4.8 million of capital from a Treasury Department program designed for community development banks.

A month after denying United Western Bancorp Inc.'s requests to make payments on its line of credit, the Office of Thrift Supervision has changed its mind.

The potential for a sustained era of greater frugality among consumers does not mean more deposits for banks.

Bank of Virginia in Midlothian said it expects to record a huge increase in its loan-loss provision when it reports third-quarter earnings.

Community bankers are up in arms about a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plan that would require banks to give customers a chance to opt out of overdraft programs for checks and other transactions, arguing it is burdensome, restrictive and would put them at a competitive disadvantage to the largest institutions.

Most customers don't understand the unbundling of bank services and won't take monthly maintenance fees lightly. Can you blame them? Can customers trust a bank to give them the best deal?