Banking

It's no secret that most people would prefer not to have their personal information displayed openly online for all the world to see (with the exception of prolific Facebook users). A recent Pew Research Center survey shows most consumers know that they leave large digital footprints and they go to considerable trouble to avoid being observed on the web. For the project, 1,002 consumers were interviewed by phone.

Cybercrimes targeting small business online-banking customers don't make the news too often, but the damage they inflict is devastating for banks and clients.

Banks have been under siege for about a year. An in-depth look at the main types of attacks, the "bad actors" and their motivations, and what banks are doing about it.

First National Community Bancorp. (FNCB) in Dunmore, Pa., has promoted three executives.

WASHINGTON — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac filed paperwork Monday to merge the two companies' securitization platforms into a single unit, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is giving $1 million apiece to five African American-owned banks in an effort to create more lending opportunities for people and businesses in minority communities.

JGWPT Holdings Inc., the firm that offers cash for settlements under the J.G. Wentworth brand, filed to raise $200 million in an initial public offering.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended Oct. 5

The alarm blaring in the New York headquarters of Amalgamated Bank, where the Democratic National Committee and Occupy Wall Street are clients, didn't bother the two pinstriped executives sitting still with legs crossed.

Community bankers should opt out of the requirement to deduct unrealized gains and losses from AOCI; be aware of the challenges and opportunities that Basel III creates for M&A and capital raising; and stay on guard for changes to risk weighting of mortgages, experts say.

Several community banks are scrambling to address Tarp balances, either by selling or refinancing, as the dividend rate on those shares is set to nearly double.

Four vendors own the U.S. core banking market. But others, mostly international vendors, are starting to creep in.

The financial services data company Markit has launched a messaging network, and eight large banks are among its first clients.

The Treasury Department plans to auction stakes in eight more banks as it continues winding down the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Jacksonville Bancorp in Florida has closed the sale of $5 million worth of common stock.

If history bears any indication of where this fight will wind up, New York’s top bank regulator, Benjamin Lawsky, could be headed for a long, slow, expensive defeat.

Greater Hudson Bank in Middletown, N.Y., has named its next chief executive.

First Farmers Bank & Trust in Converse, Ind., has received regulatory approval to acquire most of the Bank of Indiana.

Farmers National in Canfield, Ohio, is getting rid of its chief executive.

Federal Reserve officials reassured community bankers that they are vital to the U.S. economy at a conference in St. Louis last week, while other speakers said regulators are burdening small banks with confusing, confining rules.