Banking

Banks must take the time to educate mid-size business clients about how to defend themselves against hackers, Javelin Strategy & Research says.

We all say things can be better. These women act.

• FirstMerit's Sandy Pierce: Standing up for Detroit
• Bank of America's Cathy Bessant: Paying It Forward
• M&T's Michele Trolli: Leading a Bear of a Digital Transformation
• Zions' LeeAnne Linderman: Starting a Charity from Scratch
• RBC's Lisa Pollina: Creating Jobs for Military Veterans
• NorthStar's Julie Goodridge: Fighting for Investors and Gay Marriage

Debby Hopkins' team brings fresh ideas to Citigroup by thinking and acting like tech entrepreneurs. Her Citi Ventures unit is an outlier in that its top four executives are women.

Meet the winners of the 2014 Young Women's Leadership Award. These scholarships are awarded as part of the Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance program.

We recognize five banks where women are playing outsized roles in setting strategy and driving results, and each one has an interesting story to tell. Check out how the female executives at Bank of America, Bank of the West, BMO Harris, Citizens Bank of Edmond (Okla.) and Zions are making a difference.

• Bank of America
• BMO Harris Bank
• Bank of the West
• Zions First National Bank
• Citizens Bank of Edmond

Cathy Bessant says a cancer diagnosis a few years ago got her thinking about the legacy she hopes to create. So she accelerated her longtime plan to establish a scholarship for women in rural areas of Michigan, women with backgrounds just like hers. Bank of America’s global technology and operations executive aims to pay forward the help she received.

As M&T Bank's chief information officer, Michele Trolli is leading an overhaul of its anti-money laundering systems. She also has a sideline in finding homes for orphaned polar bears.

Female representation on boards is on the rise and that’s a good thing for innovation, argues Susan Stautberg of WomenCorporateDirectors.

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Broadway Financial in Los Angeles plans to raise nearly $10 million through a private placement.

Mitch Feiger, CEO of MB Financial, along with Mark Hoppe, former Taylor CEO, reflect on the merger, the regulatory environment and keeping key people happy in the highly competitive Chicago market.

If the Apple Watch catapults wearable computers into the mainstream, as some observers expect, banks will be tasked to reimagine the way they provide financial services features to their customers.

Nonagency mortgage securitization has fallen well short of forecasts this year, as commercial banks bid up for loans to put on their balance sheets. But the fourth quarter could offer this moribund market a chance at redemption.

Doral Financial Corp. (DRL), the holding company for Puerto Rico's No. 2 mortgage lender, may soon find out whether a San Juan judge agrees it's owed a $229.9 million tax refund the government has refused to pay.

As regulators emphasize the importance of data integrity, chief data officers need to consider new strategies to ensure that all bank employees are on the same page about improving information quality.

Two companies allegedly violated the FTC Act and grossed more than $11 million through a diploma mill scheme, according to a complaint.

Collection company USCB Inc. agreed to pay $2.75 million to settle a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action lawsuit.

The Pittsfield, Mass., bank was honored for a television commercial that features the voice of Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma.

People's United Financial in Bridgeport, Conn., has successfully recruited a former executive at JPMorgan Chase to join its board.

Comerica Bank and San Diego County Credit Union have battled in recent years to claim the Guinness World Record for "Most Paper Collected in 24 hours."