After nine months of consideration, the Fed said the merger of Capital One with ING Direct USA did not pose a systemic threat, but placed conditions on the deal to ensure the combined institution did not become one.

The insurance unit of Encore Bancshares Inc. of Houston has acquired Whittington Insurance Agency in League City, Texas.

Market watchers would have been stunned if regulators blocked Capital One Financial Corp. from buying ING Direct USA. The Federal Reserve Board did give its green light late Tuesday afternoon, but its delays in reaching the decision underscored the political obstacles facing big merger deals in the postcrisis era.

A unit of SI Financial Group Inc. in Willimantic, Conn., is selling its trust operations outsourcing business to an Atlanta wealth management company.

Thomas Storrs, who led a Bank of America predecessor for nearly a decade, died last week. In an interview, Hugh McColl recalls his mentor's ability to think strategically and his determination to make interstate banking a reality.

Investors would be interested in buying Emigrant's 32 New York branches if the price is right and a deal can be done soon, Investors CEO Cummings says, according to a report.

The emergence of several new prepaid debit card programs and growing national distribution of major prepaid card brands is helping to generate marketplace interest in buying and selling prepaid card portfolios.

Just how hungry is Ocwen Financial Corp. for servicing rights? In a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission the nonbank servicer discloses that it is currently reviewing $300 billion of MSRs for purchase.

ACI Worldwide reported on Tuesday that income for the fourth-quarter was $23.9 million, down 11.8% from a year earlier, as revenue declined.

Memorial services were held in Charlotte Monday for Thomas Storrs, the former chairman and chief executive of North Carolina National Bank who laid the groundwork for today's Bank of America Corp.

Breakdown of M&A announcements for latest week

Senior Fed officials met Monday in a closed session on Capital One Financial Corp.'s pending acquisition of the U.S. online banking unit of ING Group but did not make a decision. It had delayed a meeting on the deal last week.

Fidelity National Information Services said Monday that its fourth-quarter income, boosted by its international and financial solutions businesses, rose 5.8% to $117 million from the same period a year earlier.

First Virginia Community Bank in Fairfax has raised $6.7 million in capital from old and new investors and intends to use the proceeds to continue its rapid growth.

InComm announced Monday that it bought Medagate, a health care benefits services company.

Centennial Bank in Denver is adding a new branch in Boulder as part of a broad strategy to establish a presence in some of the state's key banking markets.

With problem real estate loans continuing to pile up, Western Liberty Bancorp in Las Vegas announced Monday that it lost $2.4 million in the fourth quarter and $14.2 million for the full year.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed two Midwestern banks Friday, bringing the failure tally so far this year to nine. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as the receiver of the failed national banks, was able to find other institutions to resolve the failures.