Retail & Commercial

Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae are seeking to protect taxpayers as a flood of new lenders apply to do business with them. That's also helping big banks' profit and blunting Federal Reserve efforts to boost housing.

Three banks failed Friday – including two in Florida – and will cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. an estimated $86 million. Regulators seized the $200 million-asset Excel Bank in Sedalia, Mo.; the $159 million-asset GulfSouth Private Bank in Destin, Fla.; and the $67 million-asset First East Side Savings Bank in Tamarac, Fla.

First Financial Northwest in Renton, Wash., a $973 million-asset company, lost $791,000 in the third quarter, compared to net income of $1.4 million in the second quarter and profit of $623,000 a year earlier.

A group of nine retailers asked a federal judge to approve a multibillion dollar settlement of a lawsuit challenging the way banks and credit card networks set interchange fees.

A group of nine retailers asked a federal judge Friday to approve a multibillion dollar settlement of a lawsuit challenging the way banks and credit card networks set interchange fees.

First Niagara, a Buffalo, N.Y., company, has grown significantly through recent acquisitions but now it wants to cut expenses. Management plans to then reinvest those funds in fee-generating businesses.

Federal regulators are reviewing banks' growth plans, particularly those that include third-party companies. To avoid excessive scrutiny, industry experts advise banks to proactively discuss such relationships with examiners.

First Horizon Financial National (FHN) saw its stock fall almost 5% in early trading Friday after announcing a $30 million charge tied to loans where the borrower has liquidated debts in bankruptcy court.

Regulators have announced the winning bidder for assets of failed Tennessee Commerce Bank.

After two official presidential debates without much discussion of the mortgage sector, the issue finally came up in a late-night television interview.