Bank channel

Victory Bancorp in Limerick, Pa., and Huntingdon Valley in Warminster have agreed to a merger of equals.

Benton Reichenau will be responsible for all product management for banking, wealth planning, and investment management and trust across U.S. Bank Wealth Management’s three business lines.

John Quello and his son, Nathan, joined First Dakota National Bank from UBS Financial Services, where they produced more than $1.6 million in annual fees and commissions.

The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced the new chairs of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks for 2014.

The Volcker Rule may finally be out, but the process of understanding the intricacies of the complex regulation that bans the largest banks from making risky trades has only just begun.

U.S. Bancorp has promoted P.W. Parker to vice chairman and chief risk officer, the Minneapolis company said Thursday.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council on Wednesday issued final guidance aimed at helping, banks, credit unions and other financial institutions manage risks related to social media.

JPMorgan Chase, the target of multiple U.S. Justice Department investigations, tentatively agreed to pay about $2 billion to resolve probes into whether it ignored warning signs about Bernard Madoff’s crimes, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Paul Volcker said he wasn’t involved with writing the final version of the rule that bears his name, staying abreast of developments from a distance as regulators crafted details of his curbs on trading by banks.

“When they come to us for everything, we then truly are their lead advisor,” says Mike Ott, the new head of the unit.

Wells Fargo, which has set aside the least money for legal costs among the four biggest U.S. banks, will conduct an internal review of its ethics as the industry grapples with a surge in probes and lawsuits.

Goldman Sachs Group and Deutsche Bank AG are among five Wall Street firms in addition to JPMorgan Chase whose hiring practices in China are being probed by U.S. regulators, the New York Times reported.

The ongoing debate over community bank consolidation also extends to big shareholders. While most prefer to see deals, there are a few who argue that well-run banks can stay independent.

The new hires are part of the wealth manager’s campaign to boost its sales force and add private and mortgage bankers and other professionals in key wealth markets by the end of 2014.

The largest U.S. banks are pushing back against the Fed's ambitious vision to build a ubiquitous electronic retail payments network that would move money far faster than banks do today.

Deutsche Bank AG, Europe’s biggest investment bank by revenue, barred multi-party chat rooms at its fixed-income and currency trading businesses as regulators continued punishing banks for alleged rate-rigging.

Deutsche Bank AG and Royal Bank of Scotland Group are among six companies fined a record 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) by the European Union for rigging interest rates linked to Libor.

Wall Street banks, which already shut proprietary trading units that helped fuel record profits, are girding to learn next week how much revenue the Volcker rule may cut from the $44 billion they say comes from market-making.

The Private Client Reserve hired a former Mayo Clinic executive to join the healthcare solutions team as vice president and healthcare banking specialist in Minneapolis.

If you are a small bank willing to sell for cash, there's an increasing chance a large credit union might be interested in making you an offer.