Retail & Commercial

While Texas has been among the strongest housing markets in the country over the past few years, the recent decline in oil and gas prices is affecting its housing market at a time when an overall sluggish economy can't pick up the slack.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage has shifted Perry Hilzendeger to head up its mortgage servicing operations from his previous position of running its home loan default business.

FirstBank Holding in Lakewood, Colo., has picked new presidents for its Denver market and its market for the western suburbs of Denver.

Reimaging the digital experience for retail customers has been the rage for several years now, but a handful of companies are turning their attention to rethinking the digital experience for small business deposit accounts.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council issued a joint statement Tuesday advising financial institutions to take steps to defend against cyber-ransom attacks.

The FTC will host a news conference in Washington, D.C., at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday to announce what the agency is calling a "major law enforcement initiative" involving the debt collection industry.

Banking regulators have been coy about whether they approve serving marijuana businesses, but lately one regional Fed bank has taken a strong position against the practice. But there are nearly three dozen Fed-supervised banks serving pot companies — one of many seeming inconsistencies in an opaque and confusing regulatory policy.

Freddie Mac Chief Executive Donald Layton insisted Tuesday that the government-sponsored enterprise showed "very strong fundamentals" in the third quarter, despite reporting a $501 million loss due to an accounting mismatch with its use of derivatives.

Chippewa Valley Bank in Winter, Wis., has agreed to buy most of the assets of State Bank of Drummond in Drummond, Wis.

MasterCard has appointed Craig Vosburg to president of North America markets.