Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose nationwide for the first time in five weeks, real estate website Zillow.com said yesterday.

Bank of America said yesterday it was partially lifting its nationwide freeze on foreclosures, a sign that a crisis over major banks’ mortgage practices may be easing.

Great Neck, N.Y.-based United Capital Corp. has taken a 9.9 percent interest in PNBK Holdings LLC, which recently completed a $50 million investment in Stamford-based Patriot National Bancorp Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the dominant investment bank in the country, said its quarterly profit fell by more than a third after low trading volumes dragged on earnings.

The nation’s banks, under fire for their foreclosure practices, face a much bigger threat from demands by investors that they buy back mortgages that fail to meet their sales description, J.P. Morgan analysts said.

PNBK Holdings has acquired 33.6 million newly issued shares of common stock of Stamford-based Patriot National Bancorp Inc.

Stamford-based student lender The Student Loan Corp. reported a net loss of $539.6 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30.

Connecticut’s Department of Banking has scheduled a forum to educate the state’s financial services industry about the latest federal financial reforms and regulations.

Ridgefield-based Fairfield County Bank has been awarded the 2010 Eagle Award for outstanding contribution from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

Darien Rowayton Bank has provided a commercial financing package to local restaurant Bar Taco LLC.

Barbara Van Allen has been named senior vice president of communications and marketing for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Webster Bank is out nearly $3 million for doing something that\’s actually pretty typical among banks: It re-orders its customers\’ debit charge transactions in such a way as to pay off the largest charges first. 


Michael D. Frenza, senior consultant with West Hartford-based BlumShapiro’s business consulting division, has been selected to the 2010 nominating committee of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CSCPA).

Hartford-based United Technologies Corp. has declared a quarterly dividend of 42.5-cents per common share.

Kathryn Mikells has been elected to the board of directors at The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.