WASHINGTON — Bankers are fighting back against a proposal by the Department of Education that would restrict how universities disburse federal student loan funds, calling it a "large-scale incursion" into the banking sector that goes beyond the department's statutory authority.

A New York City law designed to prevent collection law firms from engaging in abusive practices does not infringe on the state's authority to regulate the profession, according to a ruling this week.

Bryn Mawr Bank in Pennsylvania has issued $30 million in subordinated debt.

Blockchain technology may soon make the high fees, lengthy transaction times and opacity that have plagued legacy cross-border payments a thing of the past.

Heritage Financial in Olympia, Wash., has agreed to an early termination of its Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. loss-share agreements for its purchase of two failed banks in 2010.

Bank of America is offering $1.2 billion of mostly delinquent home loans, extending a series of sales by lenders seeking to pare holdings and meet demand by investment firms for soured mortgages.

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 our social media platforms.

The New York Bankers Association is challenging the legality of a local law that is designed to cajole banks into making larger investments in poorer communities. The outcome could be an important precedent in relation to similar laws in other cities.

BB&T will dismiss most of a 21-person small business lending group who had been employed by Susquehanna Bancshares.

Standard Treasury team joined SVB Financial's information technology team this week to help it expand the bank's digital banking platform.

BankUnited in Miami Lakes, Fla., has added a former New York state judge and a former Florida community bank chief executive to its board.

Webster Financial in Waterbury, Conn. has hired a deputy chief financial officer from Citigroup.

Tangerine Bank, the former Canadian operation of ING Direct, is creating and testing applications on IBM's Bluemix cloud software environment at a facility in Toronto.

Despite being introduced to the market with great fanfare, Fannie Mae's 3% down payment mortgage offering has yet to gain much traction with lenders and consumers.

Plaza Bank in Irvine, Calif., has hired Kathy Gonzales for the newly created role of director of branch banking.

Banks are strongly condemning the Department of Education's proposed changes to its student loan disbursement rules, saying that the proposal is an attempt to regulate banks in a way that exceeds the department's statutory authority and hurts students.

Blue Valley Ban Corp. in Overland Park, Kan., has obtained regulatory approval to redeem its Troubled Asset Relief program preferred shares.

Executives still have a number of reasons to put off acquisitions, as a dearth of natural targets and regulatory scrutiny still provide enough reasons to be hesitant. As a result, 2015 deal activity is flat compared with a year earlier.

Atlantic Coast Mortgage's Ashley Smith explains why keeping her referral partners happy is the key to her success as a loan officer.

Customers expect mobile banking services — but they're not necessarily impressed by them. Bank marketers should instead emphasize their institutions' problem-solving capabilities and skilled professionals.