Paul Davis

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.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray sought to allay lender fears Wednesday about the agency's new mortgage rules, pledging to be flexible with companies struggling to comply by the January deadline.

Community bankers at a mortgage conference in North Carolina admit that higher rates and new regulations trouble them, but they say they are customizing purchase products, returning to old-fashioned sales efforts and learning new business skills in response.

Simmons First National (SFNC) in Pine Bluff, Ark., had the winning bid to buy Metropolitan National Bank during a bankruptcy auction.

Capital Bank Financial in Coral Gables, Fla., has gone more than a year since its last acquisition — a common problem for M&A-minded banks these days. Its leaders urged shareholders to be patient in a sales pitch that other execs in the same bind could learn from.

Wilshire Bancorp in Los Angeles said Monday that it had hired Jung Hak Son as its chief marketing officer, a position he took over in 2009.

City Holding (CHCO) in Charleston, W.Va., said it will close a branch in Virginia Beach after determining that the location had an undesirable deposit mix.

Paul Aguggia is resigning from a large law firm to take the helm at Clifton Savings Bancorp in New Jersey, joining the company in advance of an anticipated second-step conversion.

UMB Financial in Kansas City, Mo., disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday that a client is expected to move about $1.1 billion in deposits to an unnamed depository institution in the next 120 days.

Simmons First (SFNC) in Pine Bluff, Ark., has submitted a bid in bankruptcy court in an effort to buy Metropolitan National Bank in Little Rock, Ark.

SP Bancorp in Plano, Texas, has applied for a state bank charter. The $300 million-asset company's SharePlus Bank is currently chartered as a federal thrift.