Rallying bank employees to participate in outreach projects takes hard work in the beginning, but their involvement is essential to building a rapport with the community, OneWest Bank CEO Joseph Otting says.

Ocwen Financial has tentatively agreed to sell a mortgage-servicing portfolio on $9.8 billion of loans to Nationstar Mortgage Holdings, and Ocwen hinted that more deals may be in the offing.

Pinnacle Financial recently bought a 30% stake in a firm that originates most of its loans to doctors online and then auctions them to community banks. The move promises higher fee income, but could also put Pinnacle at the forefront of banking's hottest trend.

Stifel Financial Corp. is in discussions to acquire Sterne Agee Group Inc., combining two of the biggest U.S. brokerages outside of New York.

Talmer Bancorp in Troy, Mich., has paid billionaire backer Wilbur Ross $20 million to redeem warrants he has held in the company for several years.

Greenfield Cooperative Bank in Greenfield, Mass., and Northampton Cooperative Bank in Northampton, Mass., have received regulatory approval to merge.

The OTC Markets Group has opened up its community bank marketplace to privately held institutions, offering a chance for investors to monetize their holdings without selling the bank.

Anthony DeChellis, the former head of Credit Suisse's Private Banking Americas division, has been named president of Jerusalem-based crowdfunding startup OurCrowd.

Horizon Bancorp in Michigan City, Ind., has agreed to buy Peoples Bancorp in Auburn, Ind.

Five Star Credit Union in Dothan, Ala., has agreed to buy Farmers State Bank in Lumpkin, Ga.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended Feb. 14.

Wealthy investors from China and the Middle East are using Citi's private bank to acquire land and fracking rights as vulnerable owners consider emergency liquidations.

Several Korean-American banks are entering markets and businesses designed to target mainstream clients and other ethnic groups. Such moves are viewed as a way to improve the bottom line as revenue growth proves daunting.

Riverview Financial in Halifax, Pa., has received state regulators' approval to buy Citizens National Bank of Meyersdale in Pennsylvania for $8 million in cash and stock.

Biddeford Savings Bank and Mechanics Savings Bank will form a holding company to help each cut costs and make bigger loans. But the thrifts are hoping to keep their own charters, and independence, over the long term.

Metro Bancorp, a company under fire from activist investors, has adopted a shareholder rights agreement that will provide common stock shareholders a dividend of one right per share.

Union Bankshares in Richmond, Va., and Entegra Financial in Franklin, N.C., are rebranding their banks.

The confirmation hearing for attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch suggested a shift in legislators' attitudes toward banks. Rather than the usual focus on banks' alleged misdeeds, lawmakers cast them as victims of government overreach in Operation Choke Point.

Georgia state regulators on Friday closed the $272 million-asset Capitol City Bank & Trust Co., in Atlanta, the third institution to fail this year.

Branch closings draw big headlines, but several large banks are entering new markets — or bulking up in underrepresented cities — by adding branches and hiring lenders. Bank of America, for instance, is planning a retail push in Denver and Minneapolis.