Retail & Commercial

The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are telling a U.S. Senate committee that Bitcoins are legitimate financial instruments, boosting prospects for wider acceptance of the virtual currency.

The former chairman and chief executive of the failed Summit Bank in Burlington, Wash., has been sentenced to three years in prison for concealing millions of dollars in past-due loans.

Discover Financial Services said it will provide FICO scores to customers on their monthly bill at no cost.

Pacific Premier Bancorp (PPBI) in Irvine, Calif., has agreed to acquire chain-restaurant lender Infinity Franchise Capital.

A detailed look at how the freshman senator from Massachusetts has used her first 10 months in office, including her own insights from an interview with American Banker.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has agreed to pay a group of financial services companies $4.5 billion to settle mortgage-repurchase and servicing claims.

The pairing of Rockville Financial in Connecticut and United Financial in Massachusetts would create a $5 billion-asset bank that can get more efficient yet invest in growth. More deals like it have been happening around the country this year.

Community Trust Bancorp (CTBI) in Pikeville, Ky., faces sanctions from the Federal Reserve Board over its assessment of overdraft fees.

WASHINGTON — Regulators on Friday announced they had finalized guidelines proposed in March that attempt to encourage banks' community development activities beyond their immediate markets.

General Electric Co. (GE) will sell as much as 20 percent of its North American consumer lending business in a 2014 initial public offering as Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt shrinks reliance on financial profits.