Banking

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, announced his ongoing co-sponsorship of legislation aimed at allowing people with outstanding student loan debt to refinance at the lower interest rates offered to new borrowers. The measure has resurfaced in the 114th Congress.

Cathay General Bancorp in Los Angeles has given some executives important additional duties.

Ocwen Financial is fighting back against a group of large bondholders that have accused the Atlanta mortgage servicer of improper servicing practices and an alleged breach of trust.

An employee's careless tweet or Facebook status update can pose big risks to financial firms, but social media is still a necessary tool for engaging with younger customers.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NCUA has filed another suit against one of the major Wall Street banks in relation to the failed corporate credit unions.

Thirteen Minnesota hospital systems reported a bad-debt increase of $15 million between 2013 and 2014 even as charity care costs - reported by 10 hospital systems - fell by about $37 million in the same period, according to an analysis by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Ocwen Financial Corp. said investors in mortgage-backed securities who criticized its servicing policies are trying to force more foreclosures.

Equifax Inc. and Zoot Enterprises announced Monday plans for the release of Mobility Plus, an end-to-end service that leverages Equifax data and Zoot decisioning technology to ease the mobile account opening process while helping to minimize fraud risk.

Banks will only be able to compete with nimble digital startups if they invest in a diverse portfolio of fintech initiatives and avoid foisting traditional, buttoned-down cultures onto fledgling partners.

Bank of America will allow some long- term investors to nominate candidates for its board of directors, the latest company to adopt "proxy access" rules pushed by pension funds.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., has reorganized several management posts following the resignation of its chief operating officer.

Ally Bank, which has been known for online deposit-gathering and ads that poked fun at traditional banks, was the envy of some in the industry and a source of anger for others. But now it is looking to alter its business model as its struggling parent company retools.

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Freddie Mac is selling more than $1 billion of soured U.S. home loans in its largest sale of the debt. Potential buyers are bidding on three pools of nonperforming loans, with unpaid principal balances of about $660 million, $249 million and $125 million.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial in Bedminster, N.J., has agreed to buy Wealth Management Consultants in Morristown, N.J.

Ohio's largest mutual bank is planning to form a holding company to position itself for acquisitions and other growth opportunities.

Signature Bank in New York has opened a private banking office in Greenwich, Conn.

It's the time of year when fraudsters target consumers with phony phone calls, claiming to be IRS agents and extorting money. Banks are not the direct victims, but they could be on the hook for executing wire transfers to criminals.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the best way to instill ethical culture and what the U.S. can learn from foreign countries' efforts to reach the unbanked.

The usefulness of in-store branches is a hotly debated topic in the banking industry. But some institutions are successfully landing customers — and increasingly valuable deposits — through such locations.