Retail & Commercial

Lawsuits by the Federal Housing Finance Agency that charge Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), HSBC and Credit Suisse (CS) with wrongdoing in the sale of securities backed by residential mortgages may advance, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled Wednesday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin Thursday raising concerns that specialty consumer reporting agencies are not easily releasing free information to consumers.

Former Fannie Mae chief executive Michael Williams has been appointed to chair the board of directors of Prospect Mortgage LLC.

Bigger banks are farming out broker-dealer services, as regulatory compliance costs rise.

Dan Rollins has a reputation for cost-cutting, but he swears he is not arriving to the CEO suite at BancorpSouth with "preconceived ideas."

Northeast Bancorp in Lewiston, Maine, has repurchased the roughly 4,200 preferred shares it issued to the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The bureau could offer an X Prize, encouraging companies to solve problems through competition or invite applications from entrepreneurs and financial companies, providing those with the most promising ideas a time-limited waiver for pilot tests.

SCVNGR-created LevelUp announced today that it has 500,000 users, which it says is validation of its unconventional approach to point of sale payments.

Fannie's bid to cut force-placed insurance costs by hundreds of millions of dollars has won the Swiss giant's participation. For existing market leaders and their bank partners, less lucrative times may lie ahead.

Ongoing troubles in Europe could force another bank there to sell off a key U.S. holding.