Capital One Financial has allowed shareholders to nominate candidates to the company’s board of directors, joining a spate of large U.S. companies moving to open access to proxy ballots.

The pace of bank M&A deals slowed in the third quarter and was flat through the first nine months of this year.

A looming dividend spike tied to the Small Business Lending Fund convinced Hopewell Valley Community Bank in Pennington, N.J., to sell itself.

Synechron, a consulting firm to the financial services industry, has acquired Crossbridge, a London-based consulting firm.

Hancock Holding in Gulfport, Miss., has agreed to buy a portfolio of health care loans from United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga.

First Cecilian Bancorp in Cecilia, Ky., has agreed to buy Farmers Bancshares in Hardinsburg, Ky.

CenterState Banks in Davenport, Fla., has agreed to buy Community Bank of South Florida in Homestead.

The $210 billion-asset company said in a press release Friday that CRC Insurance Services, its wholesale insurance unit, would buy Connecticut Underwriters Inc. in Middletown.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended October 3.

Banc of California in Irvine has agreed to buy a Santa Ana office building for $77 million for its headquarters.

C1 Financial in St. Petersburg, Fla., is reportedly looking to sell itself.

BB&T in Winston-Salem, N.C., has agreed to acquire a stake in Miller Insurance Services, a Lloyd's market broker.

Foreign banks looking to buy a U.S. institution long faced tough scrutiny from the Federal Reserve, and the financial crisis has only made the process harder.

The Small Business Investment Company program may be less famous among banks than some of the SBA's other programs, but it enjoyed a record in fiscal 2015 that wrapped up this week. Stories like that of Opus Bank in California shed light on why.

Emclaire Financial in Emlenton, Pa., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund.

The long-delayed approval of the merger of M&T and Hudson City should have been a bright spot in postcrisis M&A, but a small footnote from the Fed quickly reminded bankers that dealmaking will remain a demanding process.

Town and Country Financial in Springfield, Ill., has agreed to buy the parent of Premier Bank of Jacksonville in Illinois.

Community West Bancshares in Goleta, Calif., has received regulatory approval to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

First Data, the payments processor taken private by KKR & Co. eight years ago, is seeking to raise as much as $3.2 billion in what’s poised to be the biggest U.S. initial public offering this year.

Ameris Bancorp in Moultrie, Ga., has agreed to buy Jacksonville Bancorp in Florida.