Retail & Commercial

A spike in consolidation is expected to provide growth-minded banks with more opportunities to lure executives and commercial lenders.

OTC Markets Group, an operator of financial marketplaces for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, is preparing to launch a public trading marketplace for community and regional banks, according to a company release.

A 64-year-old physicist, identified by Newsweek magazine as Bitcoin's creator, was chased by reporters through Los Angeles and denied any role in the digital currency, saying he first heard of it three weeks ago.

Fast-tracking foreclosures on vacant properties in states that handle foreclosures through the courts "could result in substantial cost savings" for all involved, according to a study by Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Royal Financial (RYFL) in Chicago has received permission from the Federal Reserve to withdraw an April 2010 board resolution that banned the company from paying dividends, increasing debt or redeeming stock without regulatory approval.

FICO plans to release a new broad-based scoring model this summer that helps lenders analyze a consumer's credit risk with greater accuracy. This product launch will represent FICO's first changes to its scoring model in six years, said Anthony Sprauve, senior consumer credit specialist at FICO.

New innovations in data security, including chip technology, tokenization and end-to-end encryption, are adding even more technologically advanced fraud prevention tools to our nation's payments infrastructure.

The single-family rental securitization market appears to be benefiting from the improving housing market and favorable demographics, according to a Moody's Investors Service report.

First Bancshares (FBMS) in Hattiesburg, Miss., has agreed to buy BCB Holding in Mobile, Ala.

The Utah Senate approved payday lending reform on Thursday and will be sent to Gov. Gary Herbert's office for a signature.