Retail & Commercial

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine – Town and Country FCU is proposing to build a 40,399-square-foot office project in nearby Scarborough that would serve as office space for the credit union’s lending, accounting, collecting and marketing offices.

These financially underserved individuals are far from disconnected. They are actually more active users of mobile phones and social media than the population at large.

Continued regulatory gaps in overdraft service put consumers at financial risk and potentially expose them to high, unexpected costs for little benefit.

About 80% of Bank of the West's wealth management customers are existing customers from elsewhere in the bank, according to John Bahnken, head of wealth management for the San Francisco bank.

The San Francisco unit of French bank BNP Paribas is in the "early part" of its plans to enlarge its asset-management operations, but Bank of the West already has tripled its number of financial advisors and doubled its number of wealth-management customers.

China, Switzerland, Germany and Japan are among nations close to reaching arrangements with U.S. regulators to ease the dismantling of failed banks, said Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg.

Wealth management has reached a critical juncture. The pressure to expand and cross-sell could encourage employees to cut corners and regulators to crack down on questionable practices. All this applies to big banks, which thirst for sources of growth, and small banks, which are jumping headlong into the business and catering to the less affluent clients ignored by large banks.

Hyperion Bank in Philadelphia has appointed a president and chief executive to replace its retiring founder.

Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Ellen Alemany outlined how bankers can restore customer confidence in the rapidly evolving industry.

The Federal Reserve may be preparing to fine Community Trust Bancorp (CTBI) in Pikeville, Ky., for deceptive overdraft practices.