Retail & Commercial

United Security Bancshares in Thomasville, Ala., has recruited its next chief financial officer from Regions Financial.

The $4.24 billion-asset Banner said Tuesday it has agreed to buy Home Federal Bancorp (HOME) in Nampa, Idaho, for $197 million in cash and stock.

The $979 million-asset company plans to offer up to 1.4 million shares of common stock at $19 per share, according to a Sept. 12 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Banks with assets of less than $50 billion will get a one-year reprieve from making their stress tests and capital plans adhere to Basel III standards, the Federal Reserve Board said Tuesday.

The CEO of HSBC USA says that stricter regulation is crucial to strengthening the banking system and winning back customers' trust, but she remains frustrated by the glacial pace of the rulemaking.

Bank of America's Countrywide unit sold thousands of bad loans, defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of more than $1 billion in mortgages, the U.S. said at the start of a federal trial.

Country Club Bank in Kansas City, Mo., has promoted several executives.

Wells Fargo persuaded a U.S. judge to dismiss some claims against it in a lawsuit by the federal government accusing the lender of home mortgage fraud because they were filed too late.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed to pursue and collect deficiencies from foreclosed borrowers who had the ability to repay, according to an inspector general's report released Tuesday.

Independence Bancshares (IEBS) in Greenville, S.C., has hired two former Verizon executives — Aditya Khurjekar and Humphrey Chen — to broaden its mobile-banking services.