Retail & Commercial

Innovation requires the ability to tinker, test, break and repeat. Strategy and its close derivatives increase and delay the cost of failure. Business cases, focus groups, market analysis and roadshows, among other things, divert resources and defer action.

Allstate has elected Siddharth Mehta, former CEO at TransUnion, to its board of directors.

Liberty Pawnshop & Gold LLC in Fredericksburg, Va., charged with making 54 vehicle title loans between August 2011 and February 2013 without having a valid license, reached a settlement Tuesday with the Virginia attorney general's office.

In 30 states and the District of Columbia, attorneys general are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to adopt new debt collection rules that will "better protect consumers and military service members."

A Louisiana town approved hiring collection agency American Municipal Service to pursue an estimated $750,000 in debts including unpaid court costs and utility bills. Some of the debt is up to 15 years old.

The U.S. Senate's Democratic Banking Committee Chairman, Tim Johnson, and top Republican, Mike Crapo, laid out a preliminary agreement Tuesday that adds to momentum to a bipartisan effort to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. American Banker editors discuss what behind the push's rare appeal on both sides of the aisle and the challenges its backers face in coming weeks.

Sun Home Loans in New Jersey named Theresa Trainum as its senior vice president and chief operating officer.

Sens. Tim Johnson, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Mike Crapo, the top Republican, received an overall warm welcome to their agreement on housing finance reform released Tuesday, after months of negotiation.

The Michigan company is buying Nortwestern Bancorp, fleshing out a major part of its franchise map. Though Northwestern's loan portfolio has been steadily shrinking, Chemical executives expect to generate double-digit loan growth from the seller's markets.

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