Paul Davis

The company will pay $53 million in cash and stock for Signature Bank.

The planned sale will also include $70 million of loans in southern California.

The disagreement is tied to Walnut Street, an entity formed in 2014 to move certain commercial loans out of the bank. Separately, the company is facing a civil money penalty from the FDIC tied to issues with a third-party payment processor.

CapStar Financial is suing an investor on claims he misled other shareholders and is trying to skirt bank holding company laws.

Kearny agreed to pay $408 million for Clifton Bancorp in a deal that will add 12 branches in northern New Jersey.

If Congress changes the $50 billion-asset threshold for systemically important financial institutions, big banks could take it as a signal that regulators would be amenable to larger deals.

The company, which agreed to buy Southwest Bancshares in Mobile, also plans to sell $45 million in stock to help fund the deal.

The mutual, which agreed to buy First Colebrook Bancorp, had recently opened a limited-service branch in Portsmouth, N.H.

For community bankers, the current environment is more challenging than ever, with high regulatory burden and tough competition. Four bank CEOs sat down to discuss the future of the industry, and what they are hoping may change.

Increased investor appetite and the emergence of specialized debt ratings are expected to spur demand, and community banks are looking for ways to fund expansion and hedge against future economic downturns.

Total loans fell 1.6% at the North Carolina-based regional bank, which has been scaling back in key segments such as residential mortgages and auto. Wider margins offset that reduction, but earnings were flat and revenue growth small.

First Bank will enter a new market and gain access to low-cost deposits after it completes the acquisition.

Howard Bancorp CEO Mary Ann Scully was so keen on buying 1st Mariner that she met with a representative of one of the Baltimore company's three largest shareholders before meeting with management, and she kept talking with them. It worked.

Facing persistently low loan yields, increased competition and higher regulatory costs, many community banks are at risk of becoming irrelevant unless they rethink their business models.

The company will pay $66 million for the parent of BloomBank.

Cynthia Blankenship, an executive at Bank of the West in Grapevine, Texas, has been a regular in Washington for years fighting for regulatory changes. She is encouraging other bankers to do likewise.

You thought love triangles were complicated. The CEO of Sunshine Bancorp in Florida spoke with nine banks about buying the converted mutual while eyeing three possible acquisitions. The company sold to a buyer that bought another bank at the same time.

The company has agreed to buy Bay Bancorp for $129 million in stock.

The Indiana company's board knew what it wanted from a potential buyer, and that helped it as it negotiated one of this year's biggest bank deals.

The cash acquisition allows First American to expand its operations in Kenosha, Wis.