Retail & Commercial

Bankwell Financial Group in New Canaan, Conn., has hired a new chief strategy officer.

M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y., reported a higher quarterly profit as lower expenses offset tighter margins.

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., reported a lower fourth-quarter profit because interest rates squeezed lending margins and mortgage-related revenue fell.

A Wall Street lobbying group said President Barack Obama's plan to raise $110 billion over the next decade through a new tax on financial companies could stifle economic growth and make banks less likely to lend.

One of the engines driving Kenya's mobile-money transformation is poised for export.

Many community banks will soon have to replace outdated technology — expenses that will hit them in an ongoing environment of compressed net interest margins, increasing compliance costs and higher capital requirements.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed First National Bank of Crestview in Florida on Friday, marking this year's first bank failure.

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Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., has agreed to buy Ahmann & Martin, a benefits consulting firm in Edina, Minn.

The Ocwen spinoff Altisource Portfolio Services delivered notices to more than 800 employees and hundreds of contractors this week as part of the company's scramble to reassure investors.