Americas

For years, there's been a lot of talk about personal information as an unalloyed asset. But by now it should be clear that the more information a company has about its customers, the bigger a target it is for hackers.

Weakness in the energy sector and a surge in new construction are pushing up vacancy rates at offices and hotels, leading to a spike in delinquencies on loans tied to them. The safer bet, bankers say, is lending on industrial properties.

Guaranty Bancorp in Denver has recruited one of its former executives to come back, this time as a director.

Zions Bancorp. has appointed a new CEO at Nevada State Bank.

Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati has a new chief legal officer.

Community Bank System in DeWitt, N.Y., has overhauled several board committees to prepare for crossing $10 billion in assets.

Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., has a new president. The $22 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that Rudy Schupp had also become chief banking officer at its bank.

Carolina Alliance Bank in Spartanburg, S.C., is planning to form a holding company.

Banks are grappling with new challenges in trying to work with voice assistants like Alexa in Amazon's Echo to allow customers to check balances and perform other tasks. But with voice banking on the horizon, banks cannot afford to stall their efforts.

The $605 million-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that Stephen Marsh, its CEO since 2008, retired on Dec. 31.