The $691 million-asset Howard will pay $10.1 million, or $5.09 a share, in cash and stock for the $226 million-asset Patapsco.

The California company has poached lenders from larger rivals, while expanding into specialty finance lines. Those moves have positioned Opus for a growth spurt that should outpace organic growth at most other community banks.

Springleaf Holdings Inc., the U.S. consumer lender that sold stock to the public in 2013, agreed to buy Citigroup's subprime lender OneMain Financial for $4.25 billion in cash.

Sterling Bancorp in Montebello, N.Y., has acquired payroll funding firm Damian Services Corp.

WSFS Financial in Wilmington, Del., has agreed to buy Alliance Bancorp Inc. of Pennsylvania in Broomall.

Wintrust Financial in Rosemont, Ill., has agreed to buy Community Financial Shares in Wheaton, Ill.

PacWest needed deposits to fuel its lending machine. Square 1 was drowning in liquidity. Similar deals could be in the works as low-cost deposits become more valuable in light of likely interest-rate increases.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended Feb. 28.

A hedge fund is pressuring Webster Financial in Waterbury, Conn., to consider spinning off its health savings account division.

International remittances grew at a number of banks last year, according to new data, but anti-money-laundering rules may make the fee-based business too expensive to keep.

Eagle Bancorp in Bethesda, Md., is looking to raise funds to exit the Small Business Lending Fund.

State Bank Financial in Atlanta has acquired Boyett Agency to serve as the foundation for a new insurance division.

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy Square 1 Financial in Durham, N.C.

Popular and FirstBank gained critical branches and deposits in a region where growth is hard to come by. Some observers said it could also benefit the island to have one less competitor.

Hudson City Bancorp in Paramus, N.J., has been released from an enforcement action with federal regulators.

Embattled mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial faces up to $26 billion in damage claims by bondholders and a greater risk of being fired as a mortgage servicer on thousands of small, private-label trusts.

The $1.4 billion-asset company said in a press release Friday that it will allow Richard Lashley, a co-founder of PL Capital, to join its board.

Regulators have shut Doral Bank, ending a tumultuous decade for the Puerto Rican bank. The $5.9 billion-asset Doral was the fourth bank to fail this year and the biggest bank to be closed since the $11 billion-asset Westernbank in Puerto Rico was shuttered in April 2010.

Jack Hartings is a vocal proponent of reduced regulation for small banks. But the CEO of Peoples Bank in Ohio wants Washington to force other industries to share the burden of improving cybersecurity and cleaning up after breaches.

Amid heartbreaking tales told by distressed homeowners and reverse mortgage holders, many community groups praised OneWest CEO Joseph Otting for spending time speaking to them and hearing their communities' concerns.