More lenders are willing to make second-lien loans because of hot demand and greater yield, even as regulators warn against risks in the leveraged-lending market.

Big banks and regionals have been pounded by denial of service attacks but small banks less so. Bank Technology News staffers discuss what community bankers should do to prepare for the risk that cyber-criminals will target them next.

The banking industry's pace of expansion accelerated in March after bankers reported more activity in auto lending and mortgages.

Instead of downsizing, banks should reposition big branch networks to protect their ground from nonbanks and tech companies trying to infiltrate the financial services space.

Flagstar Bancorp (FBC) in Troy, Mich., will pay $110 million to settle allegations that it misrepresented the quality of more than $1 billion of private label mortgage-backed securities it sold to investors.

Two deals lifted First Community Bancshares in Bluefield, Va., in the first quarter.

The $1.6 billion-asset company said Thursday that Vincent Tozzi will also resign on May 31 as treasurer to pursue another opportunity.

New York investment bank MLV, expecting lots of bank M&A activity in the Southeast and Southwest, has hired an expert on those regions, David Bishop from Stifel Nicolaus, to start a research unit.

Sb1 Federal Credit Union in Philadelphia has hired Robert Werner, a former chief operating officer of Two River Community Bank, as its president and CEO.

Customer satisfaction with BMO Harris fell after it bought Marshall & Ilsley thanks to a customer-service glitch and other issues, showing how hard it is to integrate acquisitions.

The Federal Reserve Board has hit a Wisconsin bank with an enforcement action, while lifting actions against two others.

Regulators are intent on reducing incentives in CEO pay. Shareholders fear they'll go too far. Susan O'Donnell of Pearl Meyer & Partners discusses where the debate is headed.

HopFed is fighting back against claims by Joseph Stilwell that its CEO is overpaid.

Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania (RBPAA) in Narbeth has ended a string of 18 straight quarterly losses.

The mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial (OCN) more than doubled its profit in the first quarter following a string of acquisitions that has substantially boosted its market share.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has accused 18 former officers and directors of the parent company of Midwest Bank with reckless practices that led to the Chicago-area bank's failure during the financial crisis.

MidSouth Bank of Tennessee recently deployed software to speed up the process for documenting and calculating the allowance for loan and lease losses.

American Banker Magazine Editor in Chief Heather Landy responds to the charges and examines the possible evidence of her own unconscious bias.

Small banks are pushing to be exempted from what they call an unneeded and overly burdensome data-collection effort to spot how consumers may be abused by checking account overdraft fees and other charges.

A pair of longtime foes, community banks and credit unions, oppose CFPB rules and — gasp — are even willing to team up in lobbying for exemptions.