Better communication can improve the relationship between banks and their regulators.

A sharp rise in noninterest income — including gains on asset sales — helped banks and thrifts record their best quarterly earnings total in six years, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said Tuesday.

The $6 billion-asset company based in Indiana, Pa., said Monday it has appointed Jon Gorney as a director.

Bankers had long paid Equifax and the credit-services unit of Computer Sciences for the same credit reports. Now that they are poised to merge, banks could push for lower fees, experts say.

An online-bank board's appointment of John Keach Jr., a community banker who had to sell his bank this year, provides a ray of hope for industry veterans.

Here we find a bank president, who makes a loan commitment over a martini - if I may be facetious - without even looking if there is an olive in the glass.

Bank of Hawaii (BOH) in Honolulu will exit the American Samoa market in the first quarter by closing its two branches in the U.S. territory.

UnionBanCal in in San Francisco has completed its $1.5 billion purchase of Pacific Capital Bancorp (PCBC) in Santa Barbara, Calif. The deal, which the companies announced in March and closed Saturday, merged the $5.9 billion Santa Barbara Bank & Trust into the $88.2 billion Union Bank, which is wholly owned by Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.

Nicolet National Bank in Green Bay, Wis., is buying Mid-Wisconsin Bank of Medford in a deal that would combine one of the state's oldest banks with one of its newest.

Equifax (EFX) has agreed to buy the credit services business of Computer Sciences (CSC) for $1 billion in cash.

The money in TAG accounts is the hottest of the hot. If interest rates rise, these funds will disappear, hurting liquidity and capital for the banks that use the program.

A bankers' association could set up a panel charged with the responsibility of reviewing every claim made against a member and determining whether it had merit.

IMGCAP(1)]

The $755 million-asset New Mexico Banquest announced Friday it would be acquired by Strategic Growth Bancorp, an El Paso company founded by father-and-son team Bill and Pablo Sanders.

Home Federal Bancorp (HOME) in Nampa, Idaho, said Friday that it is closing four branches in Oregon as part of its ongoing effort to reduce overhead and improve efficiency.

Ameris Bancorp (ABCB) in Moultrie, Ga., will redeem preferred shares it had issued to the Treasury Department as part of the Trouble Asset Relief Program.

Consumer advocates say recent data shows that banks must do more in disadvantaged areas in cities such as New York. A closer look, however, shows improvement in certain CRA-related areas.

Why does an industry so often criticized for charging high fees to low-income consumers think it can win over critics by adding members of the 1% to the payroll?

Domenick Cama, the COO of Investors, helped honor Christopher Martin, the chairman and CEO of Provident Financial Services, at a human relations award dinner in New Jersey this week.

A survey released Friday found that business owners have become more concerned about the future health of their firms — perhaps because of fears about the fiscal cliff.