Retail & Commercial

Smart employers know there are no bounds on talent that are defined by race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

Synovus Financial, which endured a drubbing from the economy while overcoming massive challenges, has a large to-do list if it wants to regain relevance.

Union Bank in San Francisco has teamed up with a pair of children's authors to publish a rhyming book that teaches the importance of saving.

A sharp increase in long-term interest rates caused a slowdown in loan demand in June that overshadowed a much-needed inflection point with pricing.

Bitcoin, a decentralized virtual currency, has been declared illegal in Thailand. Members of the Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department made the determination at a meeting on July 29 in the Southeastern Asian country, according to a Bitcoin exchange operator in attendance.

MainSource Financial Group (MSFG) in Greensburg, Ind., has been cleared to redeem the last of the preferred stock it had issued through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's crackdown on Castle & Cooke Mortgage is the first in what could be a string of enforcement actions against mortgage originators for failing to follow new loan officer compensation rules.

Several major trends continued in the second quarter: strengthening credit quality, continued debt reduction and a focus on cutting costs. Revenue and loan growth remain a challenge, but signs are emerging that consumers and businesses are ready to spend again, which could bode well for bank earnings in the second half of the year and into 2014. Other potential profit drivers: a surge in wealth management income and, for some banks, a more level playing field.

Pacific Commerce Bank in Los Angeles has satisfied enforcement orders imposed by state regulators, but it still has more work to do.

Trustmark in Jackson, Miss., has bought two branches from SOUTHBank in Huntsville, Ala.