First Mid-Illinois Bancshares in Mattoon plans to sell about $29.3 million in common stock in a private placement.

Home Bancorp in Lafayette, La., has agreed to buy Louisiana Bancorp in Metairie for about $75 million, or $24.25 a share, in cash. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

JPMorgan investment banker Jimmy Lee was widely eulogized as a legendary networker and bright spirit this week, but American Banker also remembers him as a builder and defender of the hotly debated universal-banking model.

A technical error made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has become a saving grace for lenders who had pushed, begged and pleaded for more time to comply with a new mortgage disclosure rule.

The banking industry, which wanted curbs on costly lawsuits over unwanted robo-calls to consumers, was dealt a rebuke Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission.

It turns out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's failure to file a two-page form to Congress on time was the unspecified "administrative error" that delayed the effective date for new mortgage disclosure rules.

The Federal Communications Commission rejected requests by banks and other companies that would have curbed lawsuits over unwanted phone calls to consumers.

The yield curve has steepened in recent weeks, but bankers caution that it could take months or years for any benefits — or risks — to become apparent in financial results.

A flood of ex-homeowners may be ready to re-enter the mortgage market over the next five years, according to a TransUnion report.

Most banks that deploy voice authentication require a specific spoken passphrase. Eastern Bank customers can have a normal conversation with call center reps; software in the background compares their voice patterns to a recorded snippet.

It's hard to get consumers and merchants to change their behaviors. But eventually the convenience and well-crafted incentives of mobile payments will prompt people to give up the plastic habit.

Millennials are individuals first and millennials second. Demographers and sociologists may like to group consumers, but when bankers market to the average instead of the individual, it's a losing strategy.

A recent report from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods identified several "challenger banks" that are poised to take market share from the industry's biggest institutions by using niche-focused business models. Here is a sample of the banks singled out by KBW's analysts.

Pinnacle Financial Partners in Nashville, Tenn., has added the president of a Knoxville, Tenn., accounting firm to its board.

WASHINGTON — After months of declining industry and congressional pleas to delay an impending rule combining two mortgage disclosure regimes, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday announced a two-month delay due to an "administrative error."

Six servicers were cited for a range of infractions, including a failure to respond to requests for loan modifications and not doing enough to prevent foreclosures. Punishment was harsh for Wells Fargo and HSBC, which are banned from acquiring mortgage servicing rights and entering into new servicing contracts.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sued an Ohio auto lender for alleged bullying tactics in trying to collect debts from military personnel.

Home Bancshares in Conway, Ark., has agreed to buy Florida Business BancGroup in Tampa, Fla.

Members of St. James Federal Savings and Loan Association will meet Saturday to vote on whether to convert from a mutual to a stock-owned bank as a prelude to selling itself to Wells Financial. Some believe the vote could set a worrisome precedent.

The CFPB on Wednesday sued an auto loan firm for aggressive debt collection tactics against service members.