Paul Davis

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.

The $1.1 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that its bank had been released from a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Reserve Board.

Republic Bancorp (RBCAA) in Louisville said it is highly unlikely that it will complete its purchase of H&R Block Bank by the end of this year.

TowneBank (TOWN) in Portsmouth, Va., has converted all of its Series A preferred stock into common stock.

BB&T (BBT) in Winston-Salem, N.C., has given itself some breathing room for finding replacements for its board.

First Financial Northwest in Washington ousted a longtime CEO, while HopFed Bancorp in Kentucky seated an outsider on its board and canceled an acquisition, under pressure from activist shareholders. More banks can expect similar fights.

Independent Bank in Ionia, Mich., is back on track with payments on its trust preferred stock.

Superior Bancshares in Hazelwood, Mo., has reportedly agreed to sell a 40% stake in itself to an investor group.

Premier Commercial Bank in Greensboro, N.C., has held a beach-theme office party, brown-bag lunches on weighty matters like the cost of health insurance, and other special events to stand out in its market. It works.

Dwight Utz, who is leaving VantageSouth in North Carolina five months after it bought his bank, says he is looking for CEO jobs Virginia, Maryland or Pennsylvania.

Prosperity Bancshares in Houston has agreed to buy F&M Bancorp in Tulsa, Okla.