U.S. Senate Democrats introduced legislation Tuesday to cap annual interest rates for all consumer credit transactions.

Debt buyer Encore Capital Group announced Wednesday that its board of directors has elected Ken Vecchione, 58, to succeed Brandon Black as chief executive officer.

First Farmers Financial in Converse, Ind., has agreed to buy most of Bank of Indiana.

A securities law firm has filed a class-action suit to halt Renasant's acquisition of First M&F Corp.

Wells Fargo's (WFC) home-loan unit has sold a portfolio of reverse-mortgage servicing rights to Walter Investment Management (WAC).

Sterling Bancorp; Provident New York Bancorp

There were more deals announced in the Midwest than in any other U.S. region last year.

Uwharrie Capital Corp. (UWHR) in Albemarle, N.C., has repaid more than three-fourths of the money it took through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Alliance Data Systems Corp. announced Tuesday that its Retail Services business has signed a long-term agreement to offer private-label credit card services for luxury retailer Barneys New York.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended April 6.

Union Bank in San Francisco has forged a deal that will give the company a further foothold on the East Coast.

The company announced two deals in the first quarter, ending a three-year drought after raising millions to buy banks.

Nearly a quarter of Investors Bancorp's branches will be near the Philadelphia suburbs once it completes its acquisitions of Gateway Community and Roma Financial.

Heritage Financial in Olympia, Wash., plans to merge its two banks.

First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo, N.Y., has hired a JPMorgan Chase executive to lead its new business unit for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Executives at these banks will be braced for interrogation by investors, analysts and community activists this spring, when the seasons for annual meetings and conference calls on first-quarter results collide.

The deal is Investors' fourth since late 2011 and would bolster a growing presence in southern New Jersey.

Provident New York says the addition of Sterling Bancorp will super-size returns. Analysts are sold on the combo but question whether the profitability projections for it are realistic.

A former chief executive of First Community Bank has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for running a mortgage-fraud scheme that cost the Hammond, La., bank millions.

Thomas Brouster believes the capital could make an acquirer out of a company that he once pegged as seller.