Fox Chase Bancorp (FXCB) in Hatboro, Pa., wants to discard its federal thrift charter.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is laying off roughly 600 mortgage banking employees in Colorado and South Carolina, according to local news reports.

TowneBank bought a minority stake in a security firm to help protect its commercial customers and boost revenue.

The Chevy Chase, Md., network completed two loans totaling $40 million that were secured by long-term care facilities in California and Ohio, BancAlliance said Thursday.

Buyers, sellers and shareholders rarely profit from bank acquisitions, the author argues. There are too many things that have to go right in the pricing and integration, and there is too much that can go wrong.

Quarry City Savings & Loan Association, a mutual thrift in Warrensburg, Mo., has applied to convert to a stock charter and sell shares to the public.

Carolina Alliance Bank (CRLN) in Spartanburg, S.C., has agreed to buy Forest Commercial Bank in Asheville, N.C.

Banc of California (BANC) in Irvine has hired a group of bankers to lead its new correspondent lending group.

First Citizens Bancshares (FCNCA) turned stronger credit quality, higher mortgage income and lower foreclosure costs into a 17% gain in profits last quarter.

First M&F (FMFC) in Kosciusko, Miss., revised its second-quarter results, turning previously reported earnings into a loss.

Kentucky First Federal Bancorp (KFFB) in Hazard has received regulatory approval to pay a 10-cent dividend to its public shareholders.

Even as policymakers plot its demise, Fannie is raising the prices it pays to community lenders for mortgage loans — outbidding large-bank aggregators like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

Bankers are pressing ahead with sales of nonperforming commercial loans, and debt collectors are buying them up, even though regulatory pressure has slowed or halted the unloading of bad consumer loans.

Naugatuck Valley Financial in Connecticut is attempting the same transition that scores of other banks have completed in the last year, purging past mistakes in an effort to concentrate more on expansion.

Nothing shows a banker or financier has arrived like having a prominent architectural edifice named after him. Some who've enjoyed such distinction have gone on to garner public attention for far less flattering matters, including serious legal troubles. Here's a look at prominent figures, and institutions, that fit the profile.

The decline of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could usher in a mortgage renaissance for community banks facilitated by their natural partner, the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

BofI Holding (BOFI) in San Diego reported its sixth consecutive quarter of record profits as an expansion of its balance sheet led to higher lending income.

Banc of California (BANC) earned $4.4 million, or 36 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with a $739,000 loss a year earlier. The results topped the expectations of analysts polled by Bloomberg by 13 cents.

Online and mobile banking adoption continues to grow quickly, a national poll finds.

CoBiz Financial (COBZ) in Denver plans to retire $21 million in debt. The $2.7 billion-asset company is scheduled to retire the unsecured notes on Aug. 19, it said in a regulatory filing Tuesday.