Robert Barba is the technology editor of American Banker. Robert previously served as deputy editor of American Banker's dealmaking and strategy section. He joined American Banker in late 2007 as a community banking reporter, just in time for the financial crisis. Robert played a lead role in covering community banks' struggle for survival in the years following the downturn. Robert has appeared on Fox Business to discuss bank failures and the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program. Prior to joining American Banker, Robert was a general business reporter at Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers in Stuart, Fla. He began his career as a business desk intern at The Denver Post and Boulder Daily Camera. Robert is based in New York.
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Prudential Bancorp in Philadelphia has agreed to add a director recommended by activist investor Seidman Group.
August 29 -
As consolidation heats up, bankers are pushing back against lawsuits challenging a deal's merits. Experts say the law firms pursuing litigation are motivated by fees and often withdraw when bank lawyers use legal maneuvers to lengthen the process.
August 29 -
Is CIT Group's acquisition of OneWest Bank a harbinger of sizable deals? M&A adviser Aaron Packles thinks so.
August 26 -
BBVA Compass will likely face restrictions on M&A and branching after issues turned up in its recent CRA exam. Though a CRA rating downgrade is bad, some believe the foreign-owned bank is better off than banks that have had compliance issues arise after submitting a merger application.
August 25 -
Who says you can't have it all? Banks like Eagle Bancorp and Puget Sound Bank are adding loans at a fast clip, but that hasn't stopped them from looking for deals. Still, such banks must make sure their deals do not wreck the growth engine they already have.
August 22 -
Branch managers in Ferguson, Mo., are coping with modified hours and the presence of law enforcement and the Missouri National Guard. Bankers are dedicated to staying open in an area where branches are particularly important to customers.
August 20 -
Stephen E. Dowd, the chief financial officer of CMS Bancorp in White Plains, N.Y., has died. The $273 million-asset company announced Dowds unexpected passing in a press release on Friday.
August 15 -
Costs associated with its recent acquisition pushed Cascade Bancorp, in Bend, Ore., into the red in the second quarter.
August 15 -
Clayton Deutsch has spent the last several years streamlining Boston Private's past acquisitions in an effort to improve the company's profitability. With most of the cuts in place, the company is now eyeing acquisitions like the one it announced last month for Banyan Partners, a Florida investment adviser.
August 14 -
Investment banker Jason R. Hach has joined Sandler ONeill following four years at its archrival Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
August 13 -
The bank M&A world can be challenging for private-equity vehicles because they trade lower than some of the more aggressive traditional buyers. Talmer Bancorp in Troy, Mich., announced a cash deal last week that pushed its stock up more than 5%, perhaps helping its hand in future stock deals.
August 12 -
New charters were once an integral piece of the bank M&A food chain, allowing bankers to start anew after selling their institutions. Do novo banking has all but dried up, and the dearth of startups has made executives hesitant to sell their banks.
August 11 -
Executives at Allegiance Bancshares have long been vocal about their desire to take the Houston company public. The company recently agreed to buy Farmers & Merchants Bancshares, giving it one more opportunity to boost its profile before taking the plunge.
August 8 -
Peyton Patterson has resigned from Bankwell Financial in New Canaan, Conn., less than two months after she was ordered to pay $350,000 in Amex bills and had to resolve other personal financial matters. She had led the company since 2012.
August 7 -
The private-equity firms Warburg Pincus and Thomas H. Lee Partners are selling roughly a third of their combined stake in Umpqua Holdings of Portland, Ore.
August 6 -
Independent Bank Corp. has spent recent years looking for a way to break into Boston without overpaying. It recently found a steal in Peoples Federal, a former mutual, in a deal that boosts earnings and tangible book value.
August 6 -
Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., has spent the last year buying its way into higher-growth markets, including a deal announced Monday in Grand Rapids, Mich. CEO Bob Jones is still antsy to expand in Louisville but acknowledges that shareholders want him to take a break from M&A.
July 30 -
CIT Group's deal for OneWest is further proof that buyers are increasingly eyeing deposits, not assets, as they prepare for an increase in loan demand and look to position themselves for rising interest rates.
July 29 -
Opus Bank's expansion into new areas of lending helped pushed its loans up 44% in the second quarter from a year earlier.
July 28 -
GreenChoice Bank in Chicago is the fourteenth failure this year. An investment group seeking to establish an environmentally friendly bank saved the thrift from collapse four years ago, but it fell on hard times again.
July 25
