Banking

Big banks survived the financial crisis, but their ability to attract top young talent may not. That's the argument of Kevin Roose, author of the book "Young Money," which chronicles three years in the lives of eight young, and increasingly disenchanted, investment bank employees. Roose discusses why some of the junior bankers he shadowed have left finance; what banks can -- and can't -- do to change their cultures; and how the industry's efforts to promote diversity are still falling short.

Stilwell Group is irate that Poage Bankshares has agreed to buy another Kentucky bank. The activist investor would prefer to see the company buy back stock and, eventually, find a buyer.

Australian bank ANZ introduced something unexpected late Friday: ten ATMs converted into "GAYTMs," decorated with rainbows, unicorns and rhinestones. The ATMs also print rainbow-colored receipts.

First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) in Raleigh, N.C., said that another key member of its controlling family is stepping down.

Ameris Bancorp (ABCB) in Moultrie, Ga., has received regulatory approval to buy back its remaining preferred stock tied to the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Central Pacific Financial (CPF) in Honolulu will repurchase a large block of stock from two investors.

It doesn't take much for regulators to kill a product. Last April, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray compared banks' deposit-advance loans to payday loans. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. followed by issuing stricter guidelines. Since then every bank that offered the product has dropped it. Following is a timeline of the deposit-advance loan's demise.

The chief executive officer of Mt.Gox, the Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange where prices are tumbling after it halted withdrawals, stepped down from the board of a key advocacy group for the virtual currency.

BBVA's purchase of digital-only "neobank" Simple provides both parties with new strengths. For the bankers on the sidelines, it shines a spotlight on the need to attract affluent young customers with trendy mobile services.

Colonial Virginia Bank (CNVB) in Gloucester, Va., has revised its yearly earnings downward after a required adjustment to pension costs.

Smaller institutions see a potential opportunity in fee-laden accounts for pot businesses, but their larger counterparts see mostly risk.

It has been a year after Stifel bought Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a quest for more scale in the area of bank advisory services. Thomas Michaud, KBW's CEO, reflects on the past year and evaluates trends and forces in bank M&A and capital raising in coming months.

Cattaraugus County Bank in Little Valley, N.Y., has announced a succession plan for its chief executive.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

As Fannie Mae reports another big profit and the repayment of its government bailout, key questions remain about the size of taxpayers' return and the mortgage giant’s business model.

New features from the merchant services provider BitPay aim to simplify the process of making Bitcoin payments to merchants.

Bitcoin holders are offering the virtual money for $110 on the online exchange Mt.Gox, down from $829 two weeks ago, following its decision to halt withdrawals earlier this month.

Maj. Gen. Josue Robles will leave the company in the first quarter of 2015, the company said in a press release Friday.

Critics have complained recently that bank regulators and the Justice Department have been overstepping their legal authority and acting like moral police. American Banker staffers discuss what's behind the charges and whether they stand up to scrutiny.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) Chief Executive Officer Ed Clark will get a lifetime annual pension of C$2.49 million ($2.23 million) after stepping down as head of Canada's largest lender by assets.