Ana Patricia Botin, named chairman of Banco Santander SA (SAN), becomes the most powerful woman in European banking, succeeding her father a day after his death.

Interest rate risk. Demanding regulatory and GSE standards. Shifting demographics. These are among the reasons that lenders will have a hard time balancing the call for affordable home loans with legal and market realities.

New regulatory and investor compliance requirements have put a renewed emphasis on quality control measures. But lenders are discovering the additional costs of these efforts are outweighed by the savings from originating fewer defective loans.

Bank of America Corp. trading executives David Moore and David Hartney departed as the firm prepares to eliminate fixed-income and equities jobs worldwide, according to people with knowledge of the moves.

More millennials could become homeowners if banks educate them about private student loan refinancing options and programs that can help them obtain affordable mortgages.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., plans to introduce the Fair Credit Reporting Improvement Act of 2014 on Wednesday, a measure to overhaul the 44-year-old law governing how lenders report consumer payments to credit bureaus.

First Business Financial Services in Madison, Wis., has appointed David Papritz as chief financial officer and senior vice president of corporate development.

The draft released by the top Financial Services Committee Democrat would remove adverse information from credit reports and require consumer data furnishers to retain records.

Auto loan delinquency rates rose more than 9% in the second quarter ended June 30 versus the same period last year while auto loan debts rose for the 13th straight quarter, according to TransUnion.

The Federal Reserve Boardhashit Fulton Financial in Lancaster, Pa., and its subsidiary Lafayette Ambassador Bank in Bethlehem, with a cease-and-desist order.

Louisiana payday loan industry officials have created the Louisiana Payday Loan Association to help inform consumers and legislators about the accomplishments and goals of the industry.

Poage Bankshares in Ashland, Ky., has agreed to acquire Commonwealth Bank in Mount Sterling, Ky.

The rising student loan debt is inconsistent with trends for other U.S. consumer debt categories, according to analysis by Experian.

As bankers anticipate a rise in interest rates, they're looking for ways to attract and hold on to depositors. Many institutions are simply offering cash, but others are making more creative pitches. Here's a look at some of the unconventional methods banks are using to lure deposits.

Real estate investment trusts don't pose the credit risk to the Federal Home Loan Bank System that regulators claim they do, said the CEO of Two Harbors Investment Corp.

The Federal Reserve Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday announced increases in the dollar thresholds in Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) and Regulation M (Consumer Leasing) for exempt consumer credit and lease transactions.

Three former executives of a lucrative payday loan operation owned by Montana's Chippewa Cree Tribe received secret payments through a management company, a new lawsuit claims.

Richard Vague, who ran credit card companies and sold them to large banks, argues in a new book that stricter capital requirements in developed countries could curb excessive consumer and commercial lending and prevent future crises.

Big banks and institutional investors were more generous in granting small-business loans in August, while their smaller competitors turned slightly stingier, according to a Biz2Credit study.