Retail & Commercial

The Federal Reserve Board terminated written agreements with bank companies in Minnesota and Oregon and entered into a new one with a Maryland company.

The biggest U.S. mortgage lenders — such as Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, whose first-quarter earnings were buoyed by gains on home-loan refinancings — are raking in more profits as record-low interest rates and government efforts prolong the boom.

Two more banks are seeking to deregister their common stock following the passage of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, citing potential savings on compliance costs.

The Twitter account @NeedADebitCard calls attention to people who inexplicably decide to broadcast their debit account details in online photos.

Not adjustable rate, variable rate. Unlike the ARMs we know here in the U.S., Canada's VRMs solve the vexing trade-off between monthly payment risk and interest rate risk. The product deserves a close look here south of the border.

Fair Credit Reporting Act and Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits year-to-date are both tracking well ahead of last year's pace, according to data gathered from U.S. district courts. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act cases are slightly down from last year's record pace.

The Federal Trade Commission stopped two operations that deceived consumers looking for help handling their debts, including one firm that tricked people by impersonating federal government agencies.

Despite warnings from a few years ago that issuers would react to new regulations with higher annual card fees, most did not.

The U.S. island territory is on the verge of having only six banks left, but executives there welcome consolidation and appear more open to change than their mainland peers.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) said that an unauthorized party gained access to business data belonging to customers of its accounts-payable service but that it has not detected a theft or wrongful use of the data.