Banking

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt's decision Thursday to stand up the affordable housing trust funds sharply divided lawmakers along party lines, with Democrats welcoming the decision as overdue while Republicans denounced it as a mistake.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action Thursday against two companies for allegedly running "scams" that promised relief for struggling student loan borrowers.

LendingClub Corp. soared to an $8.52 billion valuation after its initial public offering, shining a spotlight on the fast-growing peer-to-peer lending industry and setting a high bar for a company that aims to transform banking.

Georgia once was known as the state hit with the most bank failures. Renasant's agreement to buy Heritage Financial in Albany, Ga., is the latest of several deals where buyers have paid strong premiums to enter or expand in the state.

Tangerine, Simple, American Express and Discover are some of the financial institutions that use Apple's Touch ID fingerprint-authentication technology to let consumers replace passwords or to add security.

Microsoft is working with Bitcoin merchant services provider BitPay to allow customers to seamlessly exchange the virtual currency when loading money into their Microsoft accounts.

The $1 billion-asset ESB said in a press release Thursday that it will pay $53 million in cash for the $333 million-asset Citizens National.

Kevin Cashen, has resigned as Bay Bancorp's president and chief executive just weeks after the Lutherville, Md., company posted a $942,000 third-quarter loss.

The Treasury Department has sold nearly a fifth of its stake in Puerto Rico's First Bancorp in recent months.

After a six-year delay, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will finally begin setting aside a portion of their revenues to fund the development of rental housing for low-income families.

Citigroup Inc. (C) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. were among 10 banks fined today for failing to shield analysts from pressure to promote stocks a decade after a U.S. crackdown sought to end Wall Street conflicts of interest.

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., is planning to join the New York Stock Exchange.

NCAL Bancorp in Los Angeles has raised nearly $11 million in the first stage of its stock sale.

Paul Camp, a veteran of JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, has joined the digital-currency consumer finance company Circle Internet Financial as the startup’s new chief financial officer.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is calling on the biggest credit reporting agencies to submit reports regularly on how they handle consumer disputes, and produce lists that name the furnishers and industries which have the most complaints.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is calling on the biggest credit reporting agencies to submit reports regularly on how they handle consumer disputes, and produce lists that name the furnishers and industries which have the most complaints.

The market for the serving underbanked customers expanded last year, mostly due to a rising demand for subprime auto loans, the Center for Financial Services Innovation said Thursday.

Paul Camp, a veteran of JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, has joined the digital-currency consumer finance company Circle Internet Financial as the startup's new chief financial officer.