Originations

Wells Fargo & Co., the lender whose chief executive officer stepped down this week amid a scandal in its branch network, posted a third-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates as loan-loss provisions improved and revenue from mortgage banking increased.

West Town Bancorp in Illinois has revved up its government-backed lending to small businesses, making it a good example of how community banks can outhustle big lenders in the quest for new sources of fee income.

Loan applications for new home purchases rose 3% in September over the previous year, but continued year-over-year growth could be subdued for the rest of 2016, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Franklin Codel, Wells Fargo's head of mortgage, will now oversee all consumer lending as part of a management shakeup that comes amid the bank's fake account scandal.

As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to experiment with up-front risk sharing deals, some small mortgage lenders are worried they will be left out of the action.

Within hours of taking the reins at Wells Fargo, new chief Tim Sloan pledged to finish the reforms begun by his predecessor, John Stumpf, who stepped aside Wednesday in an attempt to quiet the phony-accounts scandal that has rocked the company.

The Wells Fargo phony-accounts scandal is barely five weeks old, but it felt like John Stumpf had been hanging on for five years.

Companies weighing whether to reopen past settlements with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after a federal appeals court limited the agency's powers may want to think twice, according to industry experts.

Mortgage rates and Treasury yields moved higher this week in anticipation of the Federal Open Markets Committee raising short-term interest rates in December.

The No. 3 U.S. bank by assets has made a change at the top after a snowballing scandal involving the creation of fraudulent accounts.