Coronado First Bank (NADO) in California has agreed to buy San Diego Private Bank for roughly $15.5 million in stock.

Cardinal Bankshares said that falling property valuations and foreclosure charges contributed to a loss during its third quarter.

Banks must understand the risks associated with a potential partnership, assess how the effort will support their overall strategy and hire the right talent to manage the venture once it has been approved.

Charter Financial in West Point, Ga., plans to sell additional stock and convert to a full public company from a mutual.

These banks have outperformed industry averages for years and continued to do so in 2012, avoiding the exceptional losses that often follow exceptional returns.

U.S. Bank in Minneapolis would gain an in-house prepaid card processor and tap a rich corporate payroll segment in buying FSV Payment Systems.

StoneCastle Cash Management, an investment adviser that provides funding solutions for community banks, is buying a listing service for buyers and sellers of certificates of deposit.

Margin pressure, regulatory hurdles and intense competition will test the nation's smallest banks next year, industry experts predict. Those issues could lead to a resurgence of consolidation among community banks.

Regulators released new details on how they will enforce restrictions on charter swaps by troubled banks.

U.S. Bancorp is beefing up its prepaid card business.

FICO has acquired CR Software LLC, a provider of collections and recovery services for credit issuers, collection agencies, health care providers and other enterprises. Terms are not being disclosed.

The president and chief executive of Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB) in Maine will retire in June. Joseph M. Murphy has held those positions at the company and its Bar Harbor Bank & Trust unit since 2002.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended November 24.

Taylor Capital, Standard Bancshares and Community Financial Services are in the process of raising $260 million, prompting calls that the consolidation of still overbanked Chicago will heat up next year.

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Lingering credit issues and a lengthy CEO search had led some industry observers to wonder if the Mississippi bank might sell itself. The decision to hire the former president of a successful Texas bank might put those rumors to rest.

Bruce Lee will step down as its chief credit officer for Fifth Third Bank (FITB) in Cincinnati, for personal reasons, at the end of the year, the $117 billion-asset company said Monday.

The $8 billion-asset subsidiary of Northwest Bancshares (NWBI) said Wednesday it would buy The Bert Company, which operates an employee benefits and property and casualty insurance firm known as The Bert Insurance Group, based in Erie, Pa.

First State Community Bank in Farmington, Mo., which has done several M&A deals in recent years, benefits again as B of A and smaller banks look to streamline their operations.

Willing sellers have pretty much replaced failed banks among targets with less than $1 billion of assets. Volume has perked up in other size classes simultaneously.