Paul Davis

The North Carolina company agreed to pay $38 million in cash for First South Bancorp.

Silver River Community Bank is the fifth de novo in Florida to apply with the FDIC in the last three years.

The $128 million acquisition will provide First Financial with its first branches in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Organizers are planning to raise up to $25 million for Tandem Bank.

Bob Mahoney, CEO of Belmont Savings, called Jack Barnes after People's United agreed to buy a Connecticut bank. The banks announced their own merger agreement five months later.

Spirit Community Bank is the 15th bank to get the agency's approval this year. That list also includes Community Bank of the Carolinas, which was approved in early December.

James McLemore, one of our community bankers to watch in 2019, has more energy loans to purge and must exit the Small Business Lending fund and a BSA-related enforcement action.

It was a year to remember for women executives at SunTrust and Amex’s new CEO, and one to forget for Wells Fargo and investors in bank stocks.

While these five bankers made headlines this year, not all of them did so for good reasons.

A big splash by Fifth Third, a bid by WSFS to reinvent itself and some bold long-distance expansions highlighted a year where deal activity held steady but premiums rose.