Paul Davis

Cardinal Bankshares in Floyd, Va., is developing a comprehensive plan just weeks after a proxy battle brought in three new directors and led to the ouster of its chief executive.

The more than $500 million that investors pumped into banks in the Tar Heel State has turned marginal players into consolidators, provided a way to absorb failures and instilled new discipline.

Ameris, BancFirst and BankUnited all allowed investors to decide how often they wanted to vote on executive compensation. The results from those annual meetings might encourage other banking companies to do the same next year.

First Bancorp (FBNC) in Troy, N.C., surprised investors by announcing that it would replace its president and CEO, Jerry Ocheltree, with Richard Moore, a former chairman of the North Carolina State Banking Commission. Ocheltree will remain president of the company's bank.

The Virginia company had been fighting efforts by Schaller Equity Partners to win up to five seats on the board.

Avoid the bluster and the defensiveness, and focus on communication and steps to improve the bank, veterans of activist investor fights like John Palmer of PL Capital advise.

The golf tournament has endured a tumultuous decade since Wachovia created the event to put itself on the national stage. Controversial deal negotiations have occurred there, it drew criticism from bank-bailout critics, and its name changed twice after Wells acquired Wachovia.

Ovation Holdings Inc. has agreed to buy most of Royal Palm Bank in Florida from Mercantile Bancorp.

Orrstown Financial Services said Tuesday that shareholders voted in support of management's compensation, though they also voted to eliminate supermajority voting.

PacWest Bancorp (PACW) will buy American Perspective for $58 million in cash, trumping a $44 million offer that Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) made for the San Luis Obispo, Calif., company just a month earlier.

Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and BB&T will still be standing a decade from now, BB&T CEO Kelly King says. His list omits a number of other prominent players, including Citigroup.

Shareholders of SunTrust, BB&T and PNC will vote on say on pay, quiz executives on future plans.

Mortgage refinance activity contributed to higher earnings at the Atlanta bank, but sustained success will "depend on a lot of variables," CEO Rogers says.

BB&T has dedicated more resources to courting big borrowers, and its expansion in Texas via M&A is paying off, CEO Kelly King says.

The Cincinnati company was barred from raising the payout today after the most-recent series of stress tests.

Southwest Bancorp (OKSB) in Stillwater, Okla., has hired a search firm to help it find a successor for its president and chief executive, Rick Green, who is retiring.

Highlands Bankshares Inc. in Petersburg, W. Va., will combine the roles of chairman and chief executive in May.

Northfield Bancorp Inc. in Avenel, N.J., has agreed to buy Flatbush Federal Bancorp Inc. in Brooklyn, N.Y., in a deal that will combine two mutual holding companies.

Southside Bancshares in Tyler, Texas, will restate its financial results for 2010 and 2011 to reflect an impairment charge for Federal Home Loan Bank option fees and changes in the fair value of certain securities.

The Federal Reserve has reached a written agreement with Central Bancorp Inc. in Garland, Texas.