Flagstar Bank

The Troy, Mich., company is operating unfettered by regulatory orders for the first time in a decade, and its CEO says Flagstar now has the flexibility to pull the trigger faster on deals and accelerate its diversification beyond mortgages.

The Michigan company had been operating under the supervisory agreement since 2010.

In recent weeks, several banks and fintechs have added new branches or new units, and in the process brought aboard new leadership. Here's a roundup of key hires.

The March acquisitions of a warehouse lending portfolio and eight California bank branches helped fuel a 22% increase in net income.

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Flagstar Bank, which is in the process of buying more than 50 branches from Wells Fargo, has hired Ryan Goldberg as a director of retail banking.

The low-cost deposits that come with the deal for 52 Wells branches in four states should fund the Michigan company's effort to become a commercial lender.

While the West Coast still reigns as the epicenter of technology development, the Detroit area has quietly emerged as a proving ground for digital mortgage innovations.

Banks would welcome a proposal to loosen Basel III capital restrictions because it would make holding mortgage servicing rights easier and stem the recent exodus of depositories from the servicing business, executives said.

Tight margins, regulatory clarity and a renewed appetite to expand have made mortgage brokers and the wholesale channel attractive again, at least to the small and medium mortgage lenders.