The banks invested in bonds at a time when rates were low, and their value has since dropped substantially. While there appears to be very little risk that the banks will ever have to realize the losses, an American Banker data analysis raises questions about whether regulators should toughen their monitoring of interest rate risk.

The company agreed to pay $27.2 million in restitution to shareholders and revised its 2022 earnings to show a steep loss. The plea agreement with the Department of Justice was tied to Sterling's now defunct low-documentation mortgage program.

Brady Torgerson, former president of First Security Bank-West, was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud at two banks.

The threshold for the obligation has been lowered to 25 closed-end mortgage loans originated in each of the two preceding calendar years, according to a bulletin published on the OCC's website.

Despite the reduction from last year, "there are some signs that that production is coming back" in mortgage, the bank's CEO said.

The same day Provident Financial Services announced it had agreed to buy Lakeland for $1.3 billion, the seller disclosed an ongoing fair-lending investigation by the Justice Department. Provident said it has "not heard anything" that would give it pause.

BayFirst Financial Corp. said it initiated the process of shuttering its out-of-state network of residential mortgage loan production offices.

The country's largest banks should deepen partnerships with minority depository institutions and community development financial institutions, and regulators should facilitate that process.

Bank lending activity grew at a strong clip in the second quarter and continues to expand. Yet rising interest rates and recession concerns could hamper future growth.

Farmers Bank plans to develop new revenue from home loans, despite seeing many bigger lenders flee the same market.