Citigroup has fallen on hard times in recent years, but it has still managed to train the chief executives of the country's biggest banks and card networks.

The expansion by small credit card issuers comes as some of the biggest lenders continue to reengineer their businesses after being sideswiped during the recession, and amid weakness in consumer demand.

Domenick Cama, the COO of Investors, helped honor Christopher Martin, the chairman and CEO of Provident Financial Services, at a human relations award dinner in New Jersey this week.

Plenty of bankers want to buy another bank, but few plan to sell, according to a new survey. And there are other obstacles.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. doled out 13 consent orders to banks in October. The latest batch, disclosed by the FDIC on Thursday, included banks in across the country, including areas hardest hit by the downturn such as California, Florida, Georgia and Illinois.

NCAL Bancorp (NCAL) in Los Angeles is selling one of its five branches to a neighboring bank.

Lake Shore Bancorp (LSBK) in Dunkirk, N.Y., has purchased a former First Niagara Bank branch in Snyder, N.Y.

Umpqua Bank continues to expand its real estate business in the Pacific Northwest with the addition of a new homebuilder finance group.

Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) has extended the contract of Chief Executive Stephen Steinour by three years, through the end of 2016, the Columbus, Ohio, company said Thursday.

Wintrust Financial would sell the $161 million in deposits and three branches it bought from the failed Second Federal Savings and Loan to a credit union. Regulators will OK such deals under the right conditions, experts say.

Volatility among investment banks presents some great hiring opportunities for their rivals, says Daryle DiLascia, who recently joined Sterne, Agee & Leach from KBW to work on bank M&A.

The president and chief executive of Talbot Bank of Easton, Md., will step down at yearend and an insider will take over.

Bigger banks are farming out broker-dealer services, as regulatory compliance costs rise.

Dan Rollins has a reputation for cost-cutting, but he swears he is not arriving to the CEO suite at BancorpSouth with "preconceived ideas."

Ongoing troubles in Europe could force another bank there to sell off a key U.S. holding.

A U.S. Century spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that the $1.3 billion-asset bank's shareholders approved the sale to C1 Bank in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Teche Holding Co. (TSH) in New Iberia, La., has agreed to sell a loan portfolio with a book value of $46.3 million.

Wells Fargo is among several American institutions trying to capitalize on strong ties between the U.S. and Canada and capture clients doing business on both sides of the border.

There are too many banks that "cannot survive," the heads of CertusBank say in discussing their recent acquisition of a failed bank and predictions of more to come.

More banks are looking to outsource advisory tasks as compliance costs rise, though some observers believe the trend could lead to more oversight of the actual vendor relationships.