Retail & Commercial

Defunct online lender Integrity Advance has filed a lawsuit accusing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of launching an enforcement action against the company without the legal authority to do so.

Sallie Krawcheck unveiled Ellevest, a digital investment platform for women and the latest of her female-oriented ventures, on Wednesday.

Growth in consumer-facing businesses propelled the Index of Banking Activity to a solid 57.1 reading in April. However, a sharp loss of momentum on indicators that track commercial lending yielded one of the sharpest divergences to date between the commercial and consumer sides of the business.

Among the activities tracked by the IBA's individual components, only deposit pricing came in below 50 for the month. But most components saw their scores decline from March, and the components that track commercial loan applications and approvals, both of which were very strong in March, declined by significant margins and hovered at levels just above the break-even mark in April. (Scores above 50 are indicative of expansion within a business line, while those below 50 indicate contraction.)

On a regional level, survey respondents in the Northeast reported increased pressure on new consumer- and commercial-loan pricing. Bankers in the energy-sensitive West were the most likely to report weakness in commercial lending, both in terms of applications and approvals.

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Key factors point to marketplace lenders rebounding from their recent setbacks and continuing their growth.

In the weeks leading up to the resignation of LendingClub's chief executive officer, investment bank Jefferies Group asked the company to bolster its disclosures to borrowers, people with knowledge of the matter said.

U.S. banks are under pressure to do more with their data to understand their customers' needs and make the best offer. But the rub is that global privacy rules are getting tougher, and consumers are starting to want to own their data.

CBI Bank & Trust in Muscatine, Iowa, said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy a branch in Davenport, Iowa, from MidWestOne Bank in Iowa City.

Industry representatives swiftly rejected the Treasury Department's assertion that new legislation is needed to protect small-business owners.

If alternative small-business lenders don't get engaged in the regulatory dialogue, they risk letting a few bad apples determine their fate.

After two failed attempts to find a buyer, New England Bancorp in Massachusetts agreed to close all four of its offices before selling to Independent Bank. Independent ultimately decided to keep one branch open.