Isabel Casillas Guzman, administrator of the Small Business Administration, wants the agency to get involved in direct lending, a practice that was discontinued during the Clinton administration. Congress has not embraced the idea, to put it mildly.

Extensive partnerships with third-party service providers, fintechs and other partners are the banking equivalent of a supply chain, and bankers need to be clear-eyed about assessing the risk associated with them.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is arguing that Colorado has the right to establish an interest rate cap that all state-chartered banks must follow. Three industry groups are suing the state in an effort to stop its attempted crackdown.

The Philadelphia-based bank's parent company, Republic First Bancshares, had been roiled by a yearslong proxy battle involving activist investors groups and its former CEO.

Mississippi's Renasant names its next CEO; environmental fintech Aspiration Partners spins out its consumer brand; the OCC adds five weeks to comment period for Capital One-Discover merger; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

The Wisconsin banking company forecasted loan growth of 4% to 6% for the full year, driven by an expansion into new commercial and consumer credit lines as well as enduring economic strength in the Midwest.

Branches won't succeed without significant investment in mobile and in-branch technology; but failing to invest in bankers themselves is just as big a problem.

Liberty Bank in Salt Lake City had been "structurally unprofitable" since 2008, according to its regulators. Experts criticized the FDIC for allowing the bank's demise to play out in slow motion.

The Jackson, Mississippi, company will use proceeds from the sale of its Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance unit to restructure its investment portfolio, moving $1.6 billion of low-yield securities off the balance sheet.