Four months ago it looked as if First Niagara Financial Group Inc. in Lockport, N.Y., would spend the better part of 2004 in a consolidation mode.

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Rabobank Group, which has gained a considerable share of the U.S. agricultural lending market in recent years by acquiring a small California bank and two Midwest agribusiness lenders, has apparently set its sights on one the largest lenders in the Farm Credit System.

So far this year farmers plagued by the now five-year drought throughout the West and the Great Plains have done a better job paying back their loans than they did last year.

Banks doing business in California are taking the unusual step of endorsing a statewide initiative on the November ballot that they say could help minimize frivolous "shakedown" lawsuits by private lawyers.

RALEIGH, N.C. - (05/11/04) -- Coastal FCU said it signed on to theLoanLink Center, a credit union-owned contact center that allowsmembers to connect to call delivery channels 24-by-seven. LoanLinkCenter helps credit unions grow their lending by providing a broadrange of services that expand and integrate channels, includingInternet, e-mail, fax and telephone. The service, now used by 240credit unions, was developed by CUNA Mutual Group and APPRO Systemsand is owned the two companies and more than 30 state credit unionleagues.

Bankers in California are up in arms about proposed legislation that could send bank and credit union employees to jail for failing to report suspected financial abuse of elderly customers to law enforcement officials or the state's Adult Protective Services agency.

For the past four years legislators in Indiana have been debating predatory lending, an issue where federal regulators have proved particularly willing to preempt state laws.

Missouri may soon have the toughest penalty yet for identity thieves - life imprisonment for the most serious offenses.

Like most states, Illinois bars the door to commercial banks headquartered elsewhere unless they buy an existing Illinois charter.

Vermont lawmakers are considering a bill that would put state-chartered credit unions on an equal footing with their federal counterparts - letting them make business loans and expand their fields of membership.

The bruising fight over New Haven Savings Bank's conversion to stock ownership continues to reverberate in Connecticut.

The days appear to be numbered for more than 2,000 payday-lending outlets in Georgia.

Washington state legislators are clearing the way for a bill that would permit owners of automated teller machines to override current Visa International rules by surcharging cardholders of foreign banks.

Wisconsin banks with out-of-state investment subsidiaries could face bigger tax bills in the coming months if state auditors determine that the units were created chiefly to avoid taxes.