Retail & Commercial

Hedgeable sees the peer-to-peer business and personal loans as an alternative to fixed-income investments that are traditionally offered through exchange-traded funds.

Brent Beardall, who has been with Washington Federal since 2001, was named president of the $14.8 billion-asset company and its primary banking unit and retains his job as chief banking officer.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., reported higher quarterly gains spurred by fee revenue.

As if high default costs haven't been challenging enough for mortgage servicers, a growing number of seriously delinquent loans are Federal Housing Administration products, which require significant upfront investment to resolve.

Suffolk Bancorp in New York, which recently agreed to be sold to People's United Financial, discouraged several suitors from bidding due to concerns about concentrations of commercial real estate loans at those banks. The disclosures highlight the challenges that banks with heavy CRE exposure could face — as buyers or sellers — if they want to do deals.

Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., reported higher quarterly profit because of loan sales and increases in other fees.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., reported lower quarterly profit that reflected a still-elevated loan-loss provision.

First Commonwealth Financial in Indiana, Pa., has agreed to buy all 13 branches being divested by Huntington Bancshares as part of the approval to acquire FirstMerit.

More than 40% of consumers with complaints about debt collections say they were asked to pay debts they didn't owe. There are a host of reasons for the problem, including inscrutable legal disclosures.

Banner Corp. in Walla Walla, Wash., reported higher quarterly earnings as it continued to benefit from a recent acquisition.