Institutions and their investors are facing pressure from climate activists, cautiously awaiting interest rate cuts and adjusting to new Federal Reserve and FDIC policies.

As recently as a few months ago, many observers predicted a surge of bank mergers this year. But longtime obstacles to dealmaking are still there and have been joined by new ones.

New details have emerged about the negotiations that culminated in Capital One's blockbuster $35 billion agreement to acquire Discover. At one point last December, the two parties broke off discussions, according to a securities filing.

Rising deposit costs have plagued banks in general, and the Tennessee bank had to pay up to bolster liquidity after its failed merger with TD. But First Horizon retained customers in the first quarter while not paying them the special rates they got last year.

Societe Generale has been seeking more than $1.1 billion for the business, according to the people, sources told Bloomberg News. 

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., detailed how New York Community Bancorp grew to exceed the $100 billion threshold that triggers tougher regulatory requirements and set the bank on a path to market turmoil via a series of deals that were approved, in part, by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Should the all-stock transaction close as planned later this year, Wintrust Financial in the Chicago area would gain about $2.7 billion of assets.

The Federal Reserve Board signed off on Provident Financial Services' acquisition of Lakeland Bancorp. The newly combined bank will be the seventh largest in the state.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that he would like to examine the proposed acquisition on "narrower bases."

Any approval of the proposed Capital One-Discover merger must come with a pro-competitive 1% interchange fee condition to benefit consumers and small businesses and challenge the dominating duopolist Visa, and a pro-community 5% deposit reinvestment condition.