While some call Bitcoin an "existential threat to the state," local governments could soon embrace the digital currency and payment system as a practical alternative to credit and debit cards.

Community banks spent $250 million and more than 8 million hours on regulation implemented during the first quarter, a recent study found.

Tompkins Financial (TMP) in Ithaca, N.Y., has hired an executive from National Penn Bancshares (NPBC) to run its bank in southeast Pennsylvania.

Strong fee income and rising stock markets lifted Northern Trust (NTRS) in the first quarter. Earnings at the nation's third-largest custody bank rose 2% from the same period a year earlier, to $164 million.

Quarterly profit fell at Westamerica Bancorp. (WABC) in San Rafael, Calif., as interest and fee income declined.

Bank of the West's Andy Harmening says there needs to be more conversation to determine the future of the big banks and whether they should be broken up. Harmening, a senior executive vice president and regional banking group head, spoke to American Banker at the annual Best Practices in Retail Banking Symposium.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed slight tweaks to help clarify mortgage rules first issued in January.

A strengthening housing market lifted Washington Federal (WAFD) in Seattle in the first quarter.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg said regulators are homing in on concerns expressed by community banks in discussions on finalizing the capital rule.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (PNFP) in Nashville, Tenn., reported record quarterly profit after noninterest income jumped.

The most notable quotes from American Banker stories of the previous week. Readers are encouraged to add their own observations in the Comments fields at the bottom of each slide.

Comerica Incorporated (CMA) beat first-quarter earnings estimates by controlling costs and reducing bad loans.

BBCN said in a press release Tuesday that the acquisition would position the $5.6 billion-asset company as "the leading Korean-American bank in Chicago" while providing it with entry into the Washington, D.C., market.

Avoid closing locations solely based on performance, test drive outreach programs and consider other options, such as amending hours, before shuttering an underperforming location.

Financial Institutions in Warsaw, N.Y., has named a new chief financial officer.

U.S. Bancorp (USB) said first-quarter profit rose 6.7 percent, matching analysts' estimates, as the company set aside less for bad loans.

Regulators may fault JPMorgan Chase (JPM) for failing to conduct sufficient due diligence into accounts held by the investment firm of disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff, Reuters reported Monday.

The president and chief executive of Rocky Mountain Bank in Billings, Mont., is moving on to Herring Bank in Amarillo, Texas.

C&F Financial (CFFI) in West Point, Va., has snagged Gail Letts, an executive from SunTrust Banks (STI), to lead its business in the state's capital.

Activists staged a tax-time protest against big banks that used an adaptation of the classic video game "Space Invaders."