Jackie Stewart

When Laura Sikora interviewed at BMO Financial 20 years ago, she was struck by the fact that several people asked her what she wanted to do next. She got the message that her aspirations were important to the company, and now she has spearheaded a new micromentoring program to give others help with realizing their career goals. Employees who have specific skills they want to improve can get matched up with a colleague for some customized coaching sessions.

Centric Financial is one of the few publicly traded banking companies with women in the chief executive and chief financial officer roles. Centric is also distinctive for its enviable growth and performance. Those two facts are not purely coincidental, according to President and CEO Patricia Husic.

There's a lot to be done now that KeyCorp has closed on its deal for First Niagara, and it's telling who has been put in charge of the many different facets of the integration. While some might have just a few token women on their leadership team, Key can boast about the diversity of its bench strength.

For several years, Zions Bank has monitored salaries to ensure women aren't being paid less than men for comparable work. Last year, the monitoring went from a semiannual review to a constant lookout.

Arkansas regulators have closed the $66.3 million-asset Allied Bank in Mulberry, the fifth institution to fail this year.

Bankers can bolster investor confidence by showing they are taking a disciplined approach to M&A. That involves thorough due diligence, strong rationales for deals and the ability to step away from the table.

Bankers generally expect loan demand to increase over the next year, but global shocks, domestic politics and regional economic variations may be prompting them to prepare for slightly slower growth than before.

The activist investor is irate that the company's board will not meet to discuss concerns it has over executive compensation and corporate governance.

Banks that are heavily involved in commercial real estate lending may shy away from buying institutions with similar concentrations.

M&A activity has slowed this year, and D. Bryan Jordan, chairman and chief executive of First Horizon National in Memphis, Tenn., doesn't see that changing anytime soon.

With prolonged low interest rates, Centric Bank is targeting niche groups while eyeing ways to poach customers from recent sellers in Pennsylvania.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has made good on its promise to keep key PrivateBancorp executives.

Old National Bancorp's more than 2,900 employees are treated to a variety of benefits, including financial help during personal emergencies. These benefits are seen as necessary steps to keep employees happy and reduce turnover.

Quirky Amarillo National Bank asks the strangest job interview questions, has a "director of celebrations" on staff, and makes sure nobody has a title with the word "chief" in it. There isn't even a CEO.

Sometimes what makes a bank a great place to work is more about the coworkers than the job itself.

The Windy City is littered with small, privately held banks, some of which are looking to sell. Here is an overview of the challenges — and possible solutions — faced by those banks and ones like them in clogged banking markets around the country.

Several court decisions in Delaware could make it harder for shareholders to sue banks following a merger announcement.

Zions Bancorp. in Salt lake City posted higher quarterly earnings after cutting expenses and making more loans.

KeyCorp is on pace to complete its biggest acquisition to date next week. The company will face intense scrutiny to deliver promised financial returns as quickly as possible.

KeyCorp in Cleveland posted lower quarterly profit as merger-related expenses cut into the bottom line.