The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Monday that will make it easier for some community banks to make qualified mortgages.

Peoples State Bank in Albia, Iowa, has agreed to acquire a branch from Iowa City's MidWestOne Bank.

A shorter, less burdensome and more sensible call report is an important step toward reducing community banks' regulatory burden.

California Bank of Commerce in Lafayette, Calif., has agreed to buy Pan Pacific Bank in Fremont, Calif.

Two banks with labor ties — Amalgamated Bank of Chicago and United Business Bank in Oakland — are beginning to aggressively court commercial clients.

Community banks are hoping regulators' recent decision to drop certain items from call reports is just the beginning of supervisory efforts to streamline the forms to reduce their burden.

Fidelity Bank, a mutual in Fitchburg, Mass., that's merging with another mutual, has named Christopher McCarthy chief operating officer.

Studies are showing that companies predominantly led by women perform better than those led by men; worldwide trends are showing a continuing uptick in the number of women on boards, but they still account for less than 20% of directors.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

Merchants Bank of Bangor in Pennsylvania has tapped its chief operating officer, Tracey Smith, to become chief executive next year.

The Bank of New Mexico said that its chairman and chief executive will switch roles at the beginning of next year.

Codorus Valley Bancorp in York, Pa., has Brian Brunner to the board of its PeoplesBank. Brunner is the division president of account and item processing sales within Fiserv's global sales organization.

Interest rates are still at zero, and banks will still be OK — though they may have to do a little scrambling. That could mean a shift away from short-term, rate-sensitive assets, or yet another round of cost-cutting.

House lawmakers from both parties had tough words Thursday for the National Credit Union Administration about its revised risk-based capital proposal.

Activity at credit unions has been on the rise since the Bank Transfer Day movement in November 2011. It remains to be seen, however, if credit unions can succeed at keeping many of those relationships.

Prudential Bancorp in Philadelphia has named Anthony Migliorino to the newly created job of chief operating officer.

Fundera, which runs a website where small-business owners can shop for loans, has raised $11.5 million in new equity funding.

BankUnited in Miami Lakes, Fla., will book a $50 million income-tax benefit in the third quarter.

The $3.4 billion-asset company plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, possible acquisitions and capital investments in Bridgehampton National Bank.

The $2 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that Douglas Glenn resigned as president and chief executive. Glenn, who was 48 as of the company's April 27 proxy, also resigned as a director. He had been the chief executive since August 2011.