Retail & Commercial

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "has been a good communicator" with the banking industry and "has done some positive things" but also has "a big job to do," says Bank of the West's Andy Harmening, a senior executive vice president and regional banking group head. Harmening discusses the advantages and pitfalls of dealing with the new regulatory agency at American Banker's annual Best Practices in Retail Banking Symposium.

JPMorgan Chase kicked off the first-quarter earnings season by announcing record profits, but the results did little to inspire investor confidence in bank earnings or diminish ongoing scrutiny of the bank's business and corporate structure.

Wells Fargo (WFC) is still betting big on the mortgage market it dominates, hiring lenders and support staff and aggressively courting first-time homebuyers as refinancings wane.

Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK) in Little Rock, Ark., reported higher quarterly earnings because of higher mortgage income.

Bank of the West is trying to expand its lending, even to small-business borrowers who are initially turned down for new loans, while managing risk prudently. Andy Harmening, a senior executive vice president and regional banking group head, discusses the bank's efforts to increase business but control risk. He spoke to American Banker at the annual Best Practices in Retail Banking Symposium.

Lawyers for plaintiffs in a Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. antitrust case over interchange fees asked for final approval of a settlement along with $720 million in legal fees and $27 million in expenses.

Canada is now the second country offering consumers MasterCard Inc.'s MasterPass digital wallet, with an emphasis on e-commerce sites for travel, grocery and discount stores.

The GSE believes it can offer community banks another source of revenue by originating and selling agricultural loans.

Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest lender, plans to increase loans to energy and utility industries in the U.S. to capitalize on a recovery in the world's largest economy, President Nobuyuki Hirano said.

Flagstar Bancorp in Troy, Mich., has added two key executives: Hugh Boyle, a former chief risk officer at Washington Mutual, will have the same job at Flagstar; and Michael Flynn was hired as the company's general counsel.