The private equity firm Milestone Partners has sold Mariner Finance, a former division of Baltimore's First Mariner Bancorp.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have launched "Money Smart for Older Adults" with tips on preventing identity theft and other common scams and how to prepare financially for life events.

United Community Financial in Youngstown, Ohio, has raised $5 million of capital and announced plans to reshuffle the executive team at its bank.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Chief Executive Stephen Hester is leaving the company later this year.

John Thain, chief executive officer of CIT Group, said the logic of selling his company to a larger bank is "obvious," while declining to comment on whether such a deal has been discussed.

As more banks look to equip their branch employees to handle all of their customers' needs, experts offer tips on how to ease the transition.

Banks and insurers are expected to make the case at closed-door hearings being held later this week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency that forced-placed homeowner's policies should remain the purview of state regulators. The discussions are part of a broader debate over how to reform the force-placed insurance market. The controversy revolves around claims by consumer advocates, state regulators and others that banks and insurers have colluded to drive up the cost of such coverage, which is "force-placed" on often struggling homeowners who allow their standard hazard policies to lapse.

Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati is planning to issue approximately $655 million of common stock as part of a share conversion.

One of the most prominent trends in retail banking today is the shift toward branch employees who are jacks of all trades. With an eye toward cutting costs and improving efficiency, more and more banks are asking their staff to perform a wider range of tasks, including making sales calls, rather than specializing as tellers or personal bankers. What follow are tips on how to move to the so-called universal staffing model from people who've been through the process.

Royal Bank of Canada, the country's largest lender by assets, will consider acquisitions of as much as C$5 billion ($4.9 billion) as it seeks to expand its wealth- management unit, Chief Financial Officer Janice Fukakusa said.

Renasant and First M&F have lifted the curtain on certain aspects of their planned merger as part of a tentative settlement of a shareholder lawsuit.

Carl Chaney says his relocation recognizes that the Big Easy is a major part of the Gulfport, Miss., company's growth strategy.

B of A and other lenders are scheduled to auction the Music City's symphony hall in two weeks unless they can work out a deal with officials of the struggling organization.

CenterState Banks in Winter Haven, Fla., has hired a chief strategy officer from a California lender.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released a report in which it found widespread misuse of overdraft fees among banks. Agency acting director Richard Cordray warned of potential harm to consumers and indicated that action is likely. American Banker editors discuss what the CFPB found how it's likely to respond in a market worth $32 billion in revenues to the banking industry.

The Fed’s research raises more questions than it answers, among them: Is the researcher right when he says the great bankers he interviewed could run a bank successfully anywhere, anytime?

Debt buyer Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA), based in Norfolk, Va., reported Tuesday that its board approved a three-for-one-stock split by way of a dividend. The split is the first stock split in this manner since the company's initial public offering in 2002.

Texas Capital Bancshares (TCBI) in Dallas has announced its CEO succession plan. Keith Cargill, 60, will become president and chief executive of the $10 billion-asset company when current chief George Jones, 69, retires at yearend.

Maria Teresa Tejada will join the $89 billion-asset company on Aug. 12, it said Tuesday. She succeeds William Hartmann, who was promoted to chief risk officer last July, a KeyCorp spokeswoman said.

Eastern Virginia Bankshares (EVBS) in Tappahannock has extended the deadline for a pending rights offering.