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.

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach (FMBL) in California has hired a chief operating officer.

Farmers & Merchants State Bank in Archbold, Ohio, has agreed to buy a branch from Croghan Colonial Bank in Fremont, Ohio.

Sterling Bank in Spokane, Wash. will allow customers to transfer money to and from accounts at other financial institutions for free.

Sussex Bancorp (SSBX) in Franklin, N.J., has completed a $7.2 million capital raise.

Carlile Bancshares plans to merge and rename its two Colorado banking units.

A former chairman of the failed Premier Bank in Wilmette, Ill., has been charged with fraud in what prosecutors say is the first criminal case tied to the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Are banks destined to become trusted repositories for personal information as some pundits predict or is the notion utter nonsense? That was one hot topic of conversation during a recent Twitter Chat hosted by American Banker on the future of banking. The publication's BankThink editors discuss.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated an enforcement action against Belt Valley Bank in Belt, Mont.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s online training for community bankers now includes an eight-video module on how institutions can manage their exposure to fluctuating rates.