Retail & Commercial

A lot of bankers want on-balance-sheet mortgages declared ultrasafe under federal rules, and Wells Fargo executive Brad Blackwell explains why he thinks it's in their self-interest more than ever to live up to their arguments in favor of such a policy.

The Colorado attorney general's office has sued a retailer for violations of lending and consumer protection laws. The action comes six months after the company agreed to a multimillion-dollar CFPB fine for alleged faulty collection tactics.

Most banks appear to be coping well with the CFPB's ability-to-repay rule for mortgages, but the burden is falling harder on community banks. A new proposal that would allow more small lenders to grant home loans to borrowers with high levels of debt could help.

Banks hurt by the Target data breach two years ago will not be able to block a settlement they consider unfair, a judge ruled Thursday.

A Vermont consumer protection bill that would regulate the rent-to-own industry and temporarily ban lawsuit loan companies from operating in the state passed in the Vermont House on Friday.

First Commonwealth Bank in Indiana, Pa., has agreed to buy First Community Bank in Columbus, Ohio, for about $15 million in cash.

Citigroup Inc., the third-biggest U.S. bank by assets, said the U.S. Justice Department declined to prosecute the bank after a probe into rigging of the London Interbank Offered Rate.

An appeals court ruled Friday that the use of official letterhead from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

A group of small banks and credit unions could not persuade a judge to block the settlement Target and MasterCard reached last month that would reimburse banks on the card network $19 million for losses related to the retailer's breach.

Flushing Financial in Uniondale, N.Y., has sold three branch properties in Brooklyn, N.Y.