The Treasury Department and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly agreed to allow the Making Home Affordable Program to continue to be available to American families for an additional two years through Dec. 31, 2015.

Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce posted higher second-quarter profits, lifted by gains in domestic consumer lending and a decline in provisions for bad loans.

Carlyle Group plans to sell roughly $40 million of common stock in Boston Private Financial Holdings.

Southwest Bancorp in Stillwater, Okla., and Bank of Kentucky in Crestview Hills have completed exits from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Foreclosure-related U.S. home sales fell 22 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as rising prices reduced the incentive to sell for owners who owe more than their properties are worth, RealtyTrac said.

Community banks and credit unions now have two years to continue originating balloon loans to all customers, a major change from a prior proposal that would have banned such loans except in rural or underserved markets.

Banco Sabadell in Spain has agreed to buy Lloyds Banking Group’s international private banking business in Miami.

While banks hit a landmark with their $40.3 billion in earnings, it appeared partly due to idiosyncratic transactions at big banks and was not a sign of a resurgent industry.

Small-business owners are generally satisfied with their access to funding and about one in five plans to apply for a loan in 2013, according to a new survey from Bank of America (BAC).

Lack of financial education blamed for low savings rates among young workers.

Latin American banks are eager to expand in South Florida, but there are few banks in Miami that can provide immediate heft. As a result, even the city's smallest banks could spark bidding wars if they choose to sell.

Congress is pushing ahead with legislation aimed at requiring financial institutions to share information about cyber threats. Banks are pushing back, however, over fears that they'll get caught between new disclosure requirements and demands that they protect customers' privacy.

Allstate, the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, dropped a lawsuit in which it accused Citigroup of fraudulently selling hundreds of millions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities.

Delanco Bancorp in N.J. (DLNO) said Wednesday it would reorganize itself from a mutual holding company structure via the sale of stock in a new company to be formed in connection with the conversion.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program will cost taxpayers less than expected.

The U.K. Help to Buy guarantee program provides a good example of how a private-public risk-sharing arrangement could be structured among mortgage insurers, lenders and the government.

Sallie Mae (SLM) is seeking to separate its education loan management and consumer banking businesses into two publicly traded entities.

Bank of Montreal, Canada's fourth- biggest lender, posted second-quarter profit that missed analysts' expectations after taking charges tied to cost-cutting and its takeover of Wisconsin lender Marshall & Ilsley Corp.

The banking industry earned a record $40.3 billion in the first quarter as rising noninterest income and the continued drop in loss provisions made up for declines in interest-related income, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Wednesday.

Skowhegan Savings has agreed to buy five branches from fellow Maine lender Camden National Corporation.