Paul Davis

Bank mergers, failures and charter consolidations are cutting into the exam fees that provide the financial lifeblood for regulators in Idaho, Montana and other states. Their attempts to balance the budget can cause small banks to pay higher fees.

Julie Stackhouse at the St. Louis Fed admits that some regulators who once questioned the role of smaller institutions are now committed to hearing their concerns and making improvements.

Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) in Columbus, Ohio, has agreed to buy Camco Financial (CAFI) in Cambridge, Ohio.

Enterprise Financial and Reliance Bancshares in St. Louis, under pressure to grow like most community banks, believe they have figured out how to expand into faraway markets yet avoid the mistakes that cost many banks during the financial crisis.

Community bankers should opt out of the requirement to deduct unrealized gains and losses from AOCI; be aware of the challenges and opportunities that Basel III creates for M&A and capital raising; and stay on guard for changes to risk weighting of mortgages, experts say.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...All Shutdown All the Time: The ongoing government shutdown dominated news coverage this weekend. The Wall Street Journal highlighted how government officials and economists are facing forecasting quandaries as the budget impasse delays the release of key data, including the Labor Department's monthly jobs report. A separate article notes that Fed officials are monitoring the shutdown to see if the prolonged stalemate creates any drag on the private sector. Speaking of the Fed, the Financial Times assessed how a prolonged shutdown, and a lockdown of critical data, could influence the Fed's decision to taper its quantitative easing. The New York Times focused on the months leading up to the shutdown and how issues in Washington have provided a lift to the derivatives market, observing that insurance for credit-default swaps have started to rise.

Researchers at a Federal Reserve conference in St. Louis provided data backing small bankers' concerns about regulation and competition, though it is unclear if the findings will led to meaningful change.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke bit on James Bullard's joke about the superiority of St. Louis' baseball team over Washington's, but he avoided the bait to discuss the federal shutdown.

Dorothy Savarese knows as well as any community banker the frustrations from mounting regulation. Empirical studies can illuminate compliance burdens — and their broader consequences — for policymakers, the Massachusetts thrift executive says.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that U.S. regulators don't want to harm community bankers still ailing from the financial crisis.

With nearly 140 banks and a forecast for sluggish growth in the next decade, the city should be primed for consolidation. One big problem: few bankers seem interested in selling.

August's reading provides more proof that the slowdown in mortgage activity is curbing overall growth in the banking industry.

Sevier County Bank in Tennessee decided its loyal customers are its best promotion and created an interactive blog about their experiences with the bank, including the story of one woman who goes 20 miles out of her way to keep banking there.

Westby Co-Op Credit Union in Wisconsin has agreed to buy the deposits and loans of a Walmart branch from Citizens Community Bancorp (CZWI) in Eau Claire, Wis.

Southwest Bancorp in Stillwater, Okla., has redeemed a series of trust-preferred securities.

King Bancshares in in Kingman, Kan., has merged its consumer finance unit, Western Credit, into its Citizens Bank of Kansas.

Economic shifts are driving community banks back into the mortgage-purchase market, but the very same forces are squelching demand. So small banks will have to start buying established mortgage originators — if PE firms don't buy the same targets first.

Midland States Bancorp in Effingham, Ill., has agreed to buy Heartland Bank in St. Louis from Love Savings Holding Co.

Sober presentations from CEOs normally dominate the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference in New York, but instant interactive polls and a piano-bar soundtrack gave this year's get-together an offbeat feel.

Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) in Portland, Ore., has agreed to buy Sterling Financial (STSA) in Spokane, Wash.