Retail & Commercial

CalWest Bancorp in Irvine, Calif., has raised $14 million through a private offering to recapitalize and to retire its Troubled Asset Relief Program funds.

Everyday investors provide marketplace lenders a cushion in case institutional buyers find greener pastures. But regulatory hurdles and an addiction to fast growth are making it difficult for the platforms to lure those coveted savers.

A trip to London reveals how far ahead British and other European regulators are in streamlining the licensing process for payments providers and other fintech firms.

Freddie Mac is one-upping Fannie Mae by offering to retain some home loans that have defects but without requiring that mortgage lenders pay a fee.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce is warning consumers about a debt collection scam where criminals are falsely using the name of a St. Paul, Minn.-based law firm to target victims.

Collection law firm Linebarger, Goggan, Blair and Sampson has prepared a report on its collection of tax delinquencies for a county in Texas.

Ken Karels has guided the South Dakota company through an initial public offering and its first acquisition in three years. He is worth watching next year as ag lending comes under pressure and as Great Western continues hunting for acquisitions.

F&M Bank in Clarksville, Tenn., has named Tennessee banking veteran Brad Barrett to its board of directors.

The more aggressive nonbank lenders are attracting top producers by essentially allowing loan officers to set their own rate of pay. While so-called "pick-a-pay" compensation plans are not illegal, critics say they can encourage loan officers to steer consumers into more expensive loans in order to increase their own pay.

BofI Holding's CEO Greg Garrabrants should be basking in the glow of his bank's record earnings growth and its potentially transformative acquisition of H&R Block Bank. Instead, he's fighting to regain the confidence of shareholders spooked by allegations that the online bank violated anti-money-laundering laws.