Retail & Commercial

NASB Financial in Grandview, Mo., has agreed to buy Lexington B&L Financial in Lexington, Mo.

First Busey in Champaign, Ill., has abruptly changed the responsibilities of several executives.

A recent story published by media in Houston stated that a Texas man had been arrested for failing to pay his student loan debts. In fact, the man, Paul Aker, was arrested for failing to appear in court.

Bank earnings rose nearly 12% to $40.8 billion in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, boosted by lower litigation expenses at a few large institutions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday.

To brace for stress in the energy sector, Cullen/Frost Bankers in San Antonio, Texas, recently boosted its reserves on oil-related loans to 3% — while competitors like Hancock Holding and Wells Fargo have set even higher reserve levels. "The mix of loans is very different," says Dick Evans, chairman and CEO of the Texas bank.

It is time for institutions to act independently of the Federal Reserve and raise their loan interest rates to improve returns.

JPMorgan Chase said it would need to boost reserves for impaired energy loans by $1.5 billion if oil prices hold at about $25 a barrel over 18 months.

Despite banks' attempts to test and use blockchain, the technology that powers bitcoin, for their own commercial gain, it is outside the realm of possibility for the technology to serve any useful purpose for the intermediaries it was designed to replace.

UBS executive Rosemary Berkery has returned to the Swiss company's U.S. operations after a medical leave.

Bank Mutual in Milwaukee has agreed to support an activist investor's nominee to its board.