Retail & Commercial

Industry representatives say the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's guidance puts the future of deposit advance in doubt, while regulators say they are simply urging better underwriting and risk management.

Community Bankers Trust (ESXB) in Glen Allen, Va., has redeemed $2.5 million of preferred shares issued to the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Joseph Bella, who operates several debt collection companies in the Buffalo region, is accused of illegally contacting borrowers' employers in search of information about their Social Security numbers, hourly wages and hiring dates.

Fidelity Bank in Massachusetts needed a new branch in Millbury, the local Veterans of Foreign Wars hall needed a makeover, so the two parties struck an unusual real estate deal.

Porter Bancorp (PBIB) in Louisville, Ky., has named John Taylor as the company's permanent chief executive and as chairman of its subsidiary, PBI Bank.

Joseph Bella, the operator of several collection agencies in the Buffalo, N.Y. area, agreed to pay $165,000 in restitution and penalties in a settlement announced Thursday by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman's office.

Tim Howard, dismissed with former CEO Franklin Raines in late 2004, claims in a new book, "The Mortgage Wars," that the GSE was quite healthy — but was the victim of vicious attacks by a banking lobbyist group and regulators.

Timothy Howard is adamant that a private-market fix will not work, though letting GSEs keep holding mortgages is too controversial to get Congressional approval

Amalgamated Bank in New York, N.Y., has appointed one of its former leaders to temporarily replace its president and chief executive.

"I would use this," Mom said, "if there was a place nearby that accepted it." Mobile adoption confronts the classic chicken-or-egg conundrum.