Maria Contreras-Sweet, selected to succeed Karen Mills at the Small Business Administration, has a background in lending to Hispanic groups and women. But bankers hope she'll focus on shifting the SBA to more online loans.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage originations will grow to $300 billion in 2014 -- a 7% increase from last year, according to the latest forecast from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Colonial Financial Services (COBK) in Vineland, N.J., has revised its third-quarter financial statements to reflect non-compliance with regulatory capital ratios.

First Bancshares (FBSI) in Mountain Grove, Mo., has completed its conversion from a thrift to a state-chartered bank.

Old National Bancorp (ONB) in Evansville, Ind., benefited from lower expenses in the fourth quarter.

UMB Financial (UMBF) Kansas City, Mo., has a new chief financial officer.

Contrary to sensationalistic headlines, community banks remain the lenders of choice for small businesses, who appreciate these institutions’ expertise and personal attention.

Cash Store Financial Group, which operates Cash Stores and Instaloans in British Columbia, Canada, has been ordered to repay more than $1 million to B.C. customers after allegedly charging them exorbitant interest rates on payday loans and charging extra to load the loans onto debit cards.

A U.S. district court judge in Florida has issued a contempt order against Bryon Wolf and Roy Eliasson, two people who operated a deceptive marketing scheme since 2009.

Attorneys Rusty Conner and Michael Reed are bringing their expertise in bank M&A and capital markets to law firm Covington & Burling.

The Idaho Department of Finance closed the $153.4 million-asset Syringa Bank in Boise on Friday. It was the first bank closed in the state in nearly five years.

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There are too many things in M&A that buyers cannot control, including the willingness of the right targets to sell, economic conditions and the likelihood that desire will interfere with good due diligence, two Midwest bankers warn.

Bank of America Corp.'s proposed $8.5 billion settlement with mortgage-bond investors, including BlackRock Inc. (BLK) and Pacific Investment Management Co., was approved by a New York state judge, except for some loan modification claims.

AltaPacific Bancorp (ABNK) in Santa Rosa, Calif., has agreed to buy Mission Oaks Bancorp (MOKB) in Temecula, Calif.

Shares in prepaid card issuer Green Dot (GDOT) tumbled Friday amid fears that the firm would need to keep spending heavily to stave off new competitors, such as T-Mobile.

A recap of the informed opinion’s (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

WSFS Financial (WSFS) in Wilmington, Del., realized some of the benefits of its M&A strategy last quarter.

The central bank of Estonia, where Swedish banks dominate the lending market, urged consumers to steer clear of Bitcoin and similar virtual currencies, warning such software could prove to be little more than a "Ponzi scheme."

Investors Bancorp (ISBC) in Short Hills, N.J., which is poised for a second-step conversion, saw quarterly profits soar on big loan growth.