The combination of smarter consumers and likely CFPB action have, oddly enough, pushed banks, especially large ones, to raise overdraft fees in recent months.

Offering a new product or considering a merger may boost returns, but the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency says changes in strategy can be risky.

The management team at Bank of the Ozarks knows it has a dependency on commercial real estate. But they assert that sound underwriting, and efforts to diversify, are what really matters when assessing risk.

First Hawaiian Bank in Honolulu will be spun off rather than sold.

KeyCorp's proposed acquisition of First Niagara Financial has won support from Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, who had opposed the deal because of planned job losses in his state, after KeyCorp agreed to cut no more than 250 positions after the merger.

Royal Bank of Canada and CIBC have plunked down $9 billion in the past year to buy U.S. banks, ending a brief lull from Canadian banks. Expect more activity from those banks and others.

Cathay General Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy SinoPac Bancorp from Bank SinoPac in Taiwan.

Banks must come to grips with the fact that adapting to the industry's transformational changes means having new faces in the corporate suite.

At least eight small mutuals have agreed in recent years to merge with another institution rather than convert to stock ownership. More deals could be on the way.

Freddie Mac is on track to issue mortgage-backed securities via a common securities platform by the end of this year, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Calling the crazy-idea department … a U.S. Bancorp-branded bus is more than halfway through a cross-country, social-media-tracked journey to promote community development and alter its profile. It's an example of the new style of reputation-oriented marketing being pursued by banks.

Citigroup Inc. is exploring the sale of a fixed income analytics business called Yield Book, according to people familiar with the matter.

Wintrust Financial in Rosemont, Ill., has agreed to buy First Community Financial in Elgin, Ill.

On the day Maurice Spagnoletti was murdered, his black Lexus sedan was full of balloons. It was June 15, 2011, the day before his wife's birthday, and he was planning a celebration.

Community banks are stepping up efforts to raise cheap capital to fuel loan growth, make acquisitions and redeem pricier sources of funds.

Payments processor Vantiv and buyout firm Warburg Pincus are among suitors seeking to buy a U.S. payments business owned by Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bank consolidation in 2016 continues to lag behind last year's pace, although the average deal value is considerably larger.

Flushing Financial in Uniondale, N.Y., has raised $21 million in capital after selling an office building.

American National in Danville, Va., has hired the former chief financial officer at NewBridge Bancorp to oversee strategic initiatives.

North Carolina has lost more than 40% of its banks in the past decade, creating a new tier of larger institutions. More deals are expected to occur, raising questions about the pace of M&A and the fate of those bigger banks.