Retail & Commercial

Yadkin Valley Financial has raised $45 million through a private placement and said it will use the funds to "complete strategic classified asset disposition sales."

The New York firm led by Joseph Stilwell disclosed stakes in four new thrifts and cashed out of 10 other institutions during the third quarter. Its investments often signal plans to pressure companies to improve shareholder value.

Critics of nonbanks contend that consumers use "high-cost" alternatives because they are financially illiterate. But, like most simplistic conclusions, this one is seldom accompanied by facts and is as wrong as it is demeaning of the innate intelligence of these consumers.

A pickup in lending lifted First California Financial Group (FCAL) in Westlake Village in the third quarter.

Third-quarter income at Susquehanna Bancshares (SUSQ) more than doubled as loan growth soared, partly from two recent acquisitions.

Texas Capital Bancshares (TCBI) relied on loan growth and fee income to offset pressure on its net interest margin during the third quarter.

Nationstar Mortgage bid roughly $2.907 billion for the origination and servicing assets of Residential Capital Corp., about $93 million shy of the top bid placed by Ocwen Financial and its partner Walter Investment Management Corp.

A legal settlement and an investment loss weighed on United Bankshares (UBSI) in Charleston, W.Va., in the third quarter.

Well-intentioned policies are causing inadvertent redlining. Our proposed Dignity Mortgage would show there are few if any additional risks of lending to the large cohort of presently excluded prospective homebuyers.

A proposed settlement of a merchants’ lawsuit over credit card fees that may cost Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and banks as much as $7.25 billion is probably worthy of approval, a federal judge said.