WASHINGTON — Regulators closed a bank in Louisiana, and another in Iowa, late Friday to bring the year’s failure total to 90.

The Barclays unit in charge of U.S. bank deals has overcome adversity, from the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 to the defection of some important talent last year, and worked on some of the notable deals of the year.

The federal government could avoid many unnecessary bank failures by making targeted preferred equity investments in community banks with a Camels 3 rating.

Stifel Financial Corp. is in exclusive talks to buy Regions Financial Corp.'s Morgan Keegan brokerage after prevailing over private-equity bidders, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Shareholders of Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. in Lititz, Pa., and Tower Bancorp Inc. in Harrisburg, Pa., have approved the companies' proposed merger.

Most of the transactions in November have involved the sale of small, closely held banks to much bigger players. The buyers want to spend excess cash and expand on the cheap.

Citigroup Inc. renewed a multiyear deal to continue issuing private-label credit cards for Sunoco Inc. customers, the companies said Thursday.

Some family owned banks have had difficulty transitioning from one generation to the next, and the current economic downturn has made it trickier than ever to transfer control.

Home BancShares Inc. in Conway, Ark., has agreed to buy 17 branches in a purchase-and-assumption agreement with Park National Corp. in Newark, Ohio.

No one would blame activist investor Richard Lashley if he's muttering, "I told you so." His firm, PL Capital, spent two years before the financial crisis fighting to get on the board at Bancorp Rhode Island and force a sale, to no avail. Now the company is working to complete its sale to Brookline Bancorp.

As Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan goes before the board this week to discuss the company's 2012 plan he does so with a brand-new strategy chief in tow — Thong Nguyen.

The U.K. government said it will sell Northern Rock to Virgin Money for £747 million ($1.2 billion) cash, marking a major loss on its investment in the mortgage lender that became a symbol of the financial crisis.

The Treasury and the banking industry would like nothing better than to see more credit unions convert to taxpaying banks. This is hardly going to happen if CUs perceive the OCC as an inhospitable regulator of their mutual form.

NBT Bancorp Inc. in Norwich, N.Y., said late Wednesday that it will acquire Hampshire First Bank in Manchester, N.H.

U.S. banks may get to spend some excess cash on loans or lines of business that European banks will seek to dump. Still, a cloud hangs over the outlook for bank M&A next year.

Charles Schwab Corp. has finalized its purchase of Compliance11 Inc., a Chicago firm that helps securities and investment firms manage their compliance with regulations.

A pair of healthy banks destined to be partners are nearing deadline as investors anxiously wait.

TD Bank says it will add 1,600 jobs in South Carolina in the next three to five years as it builds a regional hub there.

The name of Visa Inc.'s digital wallet understates its ambition for the service. That may turn out to be a smart branding move.

Cheviot Financial in Cheviot, Ohio, said Tuesday that it had received regulatory approval for a stock offering tied to its mutual holding company's proposed mutual-to-stock conversion.