Retail & Commercial

First Bancshares in Hattiesburg, Miss., has agreed to buy Mortgage Connection in Jackson, Miss.

California regulators have approved a request from private-equity firm Carpenter & Co. to raise capital for a new state-chartered bank.

Avidbank Holdings in Palo Alto, Calif., has raised $12 million through a private placement of debt.

Overall U.S. auto debt surged to $1.05 trillion in the third quarter, and the rise in subprime auto loan originations has heightened the New York Fed's concerns about that market.

County Bancorp in Manitowoc, Wis., has selected former Kimberly-Clark executive Kathi Seifert to be a director.

The industry deserves credit for rebuilding the Deposit Insurance Fund after the crisis, but victory is far from achieved in preparing agency reserves for the next crisis.

More banks are looking to buy commercial loans for reasons ranging from a dearth of organic opportunities to a need to diversify their asset mix. That surge in demand is creating an imbalance that benefits banks that have been able to make more loans.

Prospect Mortgage, a Sherman Oaks, Calif., nonbank lender, has agreed to pay $10.1 million in borrower restitution and penalties for violating federal and state laws, California's Department of Business Oversight said Thursday.

Western Union will pay $8.5 million to settle allegations that it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending unsolicited text messages asking consumers to opt in to receive regular updates from the company.

Forward-thinking companies could get a reputation lift from being first out of the gate with interesting apps. Banks could also be first to help protect customers from the inevitable privacy leaks that the IoT will make possible.