Commerce Bancorp has long been considered a pioneer in the retail banking sector. Its user-friendly branch designs and cheery customer service policies made it, along with Washington Mutual, a bank to be emulated. But even as it scored accolades, it also took a lot of grief over some of the policies of Vernon Hill, the controversial CEO, that seemed a bit too family-friendly. Now, the bank has decided to end some of the official ties to businesses controlled by the Hill family. New leases to family-linked partnerships will not be signed. The design company that Hill's wife ran will be brought in-house. It will seek a new real estate brokerage instead of one linked to the family. All this has been the subject of government probes. A settlement is expected. So all in all, it seems like the board is doing the right thing.

For more:
- check out the AP report