Americas

Wells Fargo plans to sell an $8.5 billion portfolio of federal student loans to Navient, the educational loan servicer that recently split off from Sallie Mae.

First Artesia Bancshares in Artesia, N.M., has merged two of its banks.

WASHINGTON — Credit unions are lobbying for several key pieces of legislation in the lame-duck session, but it could be a case of too little time and too much inertia.

J. Thomas Wiley will become chief executive of the company's banking unit. The move could free up Joe Evans, the company's CEO, to focus on deploying capital, which could include more acquisitions.

CHICAGO — Despite much interest in ApplePay and other emerging opportunities, credit unions still see auto loans as the growth area heading into 2015, according to a recent TransUnion survey.

Texas Capital Bancshares in Dallas plans to raise about $150 million by selling common stock.

SAN DIEGO — San Diego County Credit Union posted strong financial numbers across the board in the third quarter, including year-over-year loan growth of 23.6%.

Sturgis Bancorp in Sturgis, Mich., has agreed to buy West Michigan Savings Bank in Bangor.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., will close or relocate all of its branches inside grocery stores in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas in a move it says will reduce overhead by $7 million to $8 million a year.

WASHINGTON — Boulder, Col.-based Elevations CU here has been named one of four recipients of the 2014 Baldridge Award from the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).