A bill that would impose restrictions on the Small Business Lending Fund may lead bankers to rethink participation in the program.

The measure, introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, aims to keep troubled banks out of the program by excluding any that ever received funds from Troubled Asset Relief Program. Industry observers say there are plenty of safeguards already in place to weed out unhealthy applicants, and that the bill would effectively kill the SBLF.

Regardless of what the branches of the future look like, the "banker of the future" will almost assuredly be the human interface of an online operation.

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., has repaid half of the $525 million it obtained from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

California United Bank in Encino said Thursday that it raised about $10.3 million in a private placement mostly through 16 institutional investors.

BancFirst Corp. in Oklahoma City said Thursday that it has agreed to buy FBC Financial Corp., parent of the $256 million-asset 1st Bank Oklahoma.

By the end of this month the Office of Thrift Supervision wants Carver, a minority-owned bank that serves underbanked communities in New York City, to increase capital ratios by at least $20 million. Analysts, however, believe Carver may need as much as $35 million to properly repair itself.

First Niagara Financial Group has cleared the final hurdle in its bid to buy NewAlliance BancShares Inc. in New Haven, Conn.

Navy Federal Credit Union's move to eliminate balance transfer fees for new credit card accounts may demonstrate that the credit card industry has recovered sufficiently from economic and regulatory setbacks to return to more aggressive marketing.

In the battle over the potential negative effects for community banks from the Dodd-Frank Act, it all comes down to the Durbin amendment.

Four banks based in the state have agreed to sell since December, when Hancock Holding of Gulfport, Miss., said it would buy Whitney, a New Orleans stalwart.

The national interest is not served by policymakers' hatching yet another bad idea for how to keep millions of people in homes they can't afford.

Empower Federal Credit Union of Syracuse, N.Y., is using a secure document signing technology from Integrated Media Management.

West Coast Bancorp in Lake Oswego, Ore., said Tuesday that it has hired a former Umpqua Holdings Corp. executive as its corporate compliance manager.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said in its annual report that mounting legal problems could have an adverse effect on its financial results.

Superior Bancorp in Birmingham, Ala., said it must continue to delay filing its 2010 report with the Securities and Exchange Commission until it addresses issues with certain appraisals.

BCB Bancorp Inc. in Bayonne, N.J., said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire Allegiance Community Bank in South Orange, N.J.