FirstMerit (FMER) in Akron, Ohio, has named a president of its Michigan operations as it prepares to enter the state.

Cambridge Bancorp in Massachusetts has added Donald Briggs, a specialist in retail real estate, to its board. Briggs is senior vice president of development for the Federal Realty Investment Trust.

Banks and thrifts are boosting their investments in bank-owned life insurance in an effort to keep pace with rising employee benefits costs and generate additional income.

Policymakers can shape the Dodd-Frank risk retention requirements in a way that brings private investment back to the multifamily mortgage business. The window of opportunity is short.

Radio silence from the CFPB on how it views the enforcement of fair lending laws is making community bankers nervous.

Capital Bank in Vineland, N.J., reported record earnings and a larger dividend.

The Bipartisan Policy Center has released a proposal that calls for a catastrophic government guarantee to backstop mortgages, similar to an idea first floated by the Treasury Department two years ago.

Monday marked the 150th anniversary of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a landmark the agency noted by touting its accomplishments.

Though regulators gave community banks an exemption for balloon mortgages, they carved out such a narrow definition that some banks would be forced to stop making them.

Home equity lending remains miles away from growth, despite anecdotal evidence of a comeback and rising real estate prices that are fortifying loans already on the books.

A century and a half ago, the National Bank Act was born with a mission to promote a strong, vibrant national banking system. What it created was a dual banking system that has been meeting the changing needs of bank customers ever since.

The Treasury Department has begun an auction for its Troubled Asset Relief Program stake in nine more banks.

Huntington Bank (HBAN) is joining with Michigan State University to give fans of the school's football team a new way to show their pride.

Rheo Brouillard, a longtime director at Bankers' Bank Northeast, was tapped to succeed Ralph Shulansky, who died of a heart attack last month.

Michael Crowley Jr., the chief executive at Bank Mutual in Brown Deer, Wis., is stepping down after 45 years with the company.

Seacoast Commerce Bank in San Diego has named David Bartram its new chief operating officer.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group will signal next week it plans to sell a 15% to 25% stake in Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., according to a person familiar with the plan.

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Lead Bank in Garden City, Mo., plans to expand the range of services it offers by becoming a state-chartered trust company.

Ken Lehman is buying outsized stakes in community banks, using his personal funds and often introducing himself to CEOs with a direct phone call.