Banking

AIG's United Guaranty Corp. has again elected to go off on its own and will not join the new trade group being formed by the other private mortgage insurers.

First Data Corp. has appointed Frank Bisignano as the Atlanta-based company's chairman, adding to his role as chief executive officer.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a formal notice that it will mail surveys to consumers to learn about their experiences with debt collectors. Specifically, the survey will ask whether consumers have been contacted by collectors and whether they recognized the debt being collected.

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Zaio Corp. (ZAO), a Canadian company that tracks property values in the U.S., is in talks to acquire Axis Appraisal Management Solutions in San Rafael, Calif.

Baidu, China's largest search engine provider, is applying for a private banking license, according to Chinese news agencies reports.

BOK Financial Corp. (BOKF) in Tulsa, Okla., has agreed to buy MBM Advisors, a wealth management firm based in Houston.

The rising generation of young Americans not only have little loyalty to banks, according to a three-year survey of 10,000 people born between 1981 and 2000 — many also believe that traditional financial institutions are on their way to irrelevance.

Taking their cues from popular consumer brands and digital upstarts, financial institutions are modernizing their websites, ATMs, and mobile apps in hopes of creating a better digital banking experience and, ultimately, attracting and retaining more customers.

Record profits at agriculture-focused rural banks could be coming to an end. Farm revenue is expected to decline sharply this year, and ag lenders are watching warily to see if this is a one-year blip or the start of a downturn.

A spike in consolidation is expected to provide growth-minded banks with more opportunities to lure executives and commercial lenders.

OTC Markets Group, an operator of financial marketplaces for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, is preparing to launch a public trading marketplace for community and regional banks, according to a company release.

Granted, journalists can be scavengers; they're nosey and can be positively annoying when they want information. But why does a whole group of crypto-anarchists and technologists think they have the moral high ground?

A 64-year-old physicist, identified by Newsweek magazine as Bitcoin's creator, was chased by reporters through Los Angeles and denied any role in the digital currency, saying he first heard of it three weeks ago.

Fast-tracking foreclosures on vacant properties in states that handle foreclosures through the courts "could result in substantial cost savings" for all involved, according to a study by Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Royal Financial (RYFL) in Chicago has received permission from the Federal Reserve to withdraw an April 2010 board resolution that banned the company from paying dividends, increasing debt or redeeming stock without regulatory approval.

FICO plans to release a new broad-based scoring model this summer that helps lenders analyze a consumer's credit risk with greater accuracy. This product launch will represent FICO's first changes to its scoring model in six years, said Anthony Sprauve, senior consumer credit specialist at FICO.

New innovations in data security, including chip technology, tokenization and end-to-end encryption, are adding even more technologically advanced fraud prevention tools to our nation's payments infrastructure.

The single-family rental securitization market appears to be benefiting from the improving housing market and favorable demographics, according to a Moody's Investors Service report.

First Bancshares (FBMS) in Hattiesburg, Miss., has agreed to buy BCB Holding in Mobile, Ala.