Americas

First Foundation in Irvine, Calif., has agreed to buy a pair of branches from Pacific Western Bank in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The Federal Trade Commission took a victory lap Tuesday in its fight with race car driver Scott Tucker and his payday lending operation.

Wells Fargo, the lender grappling with a scandal involving unauthorized customer accounts, had its outlook lowered to negative from stable by Fitch Ratings.

Medallion Bank in New York has sold its asset-based lending division to an unnamed buyer.

The $21 billion-asset bank said Monday that it had hired John Gannon as group manager of Small Business Administration lending and Clyde Thompson as credit officer.

Standard Chartered in London has hired a key executive from Independent Bank Group in McKinney, Texas, to oversee its U.S. operations.

Capital One Financial plans to start issuing credit cards for the outdoor equipment chain Cabela's under a deal connected with the retailer's expected sale to Bass Pro Shops.

A Morgan Stanley unit was accused by Massachusetts officials of forcing its financial advisers into high-pressure sales contests to cross-sell so-called securities-based loans and other products to clients.

Chicago Treasurer Kurt Summers plans to divest $25 million the city has invested with Wells Fargo after the company admitted to opening potentially millions of bogus client accounts, joining state officials who have pulled business from the bank because of the scandal.

First Merchants Corp. recently agreed to buy a minority stake in a bank in an attractive market. The move could allow the company to obtain intel while gaining an edge should the other bank decide to sell.