Retail & Commercial

Several big banks have hired environmental professionals from far outside the world of banking to make sure banks' clients aren't doing things to threaten water quality, public health or worker safety. The executives' job is to protect their banks' credit books — and reputations.

New York Community Bancorp Inc. Chief Executive Officer Joseph Ficalora didn't have to pay taxes on $2.84 million in restricted stock he collected last year. His company picked up the tab.

Nonbank servicers selling and buying Fannie and Freddie MSRs must meet new capital and liquidity requirement to transfer servicing.

Customers Bancorp will offer free financial coaching to customers of its mobile-banking product who maintain higher monthly deposits.

Capital One Financial is planning to beef up its mortgage lending and has hired industry veteran Desmond Smith to oversee the effort.

Fidelity Southern in Atlanta has agreed to buy the Florida branch network of First Banks Inc. of Clayton, Mo.

VidVerify, a new company started by a co-founder of Lenders One, produces online videos that educate borrowers on the milestones of the mortgage process, while helping lenders ensure regulatory compliance.

A handful of banks are upgrading their apps with Siri-like "virtual assistants" that understand spoken questions at a time when most institutions don't even let digital customers do typed keyword searches of their transaction data.

The three major credit bureaus agreed Wednesday to pay more than $6 million to 31 states to cover the cost of a three-year investigation into credit reporting errors.

Cuba has found a Florida bank willing to handle its future business in Washington, removing a major impediment to the communist country opening an embassy in the U.S.