Management training programs are slowly returning to smaller banks decades after belt-tightening led to their demise. Rigorous regulatory scrutiny, combined with a need for improved risk management and increased income, are spurring the comeback.

Premara Financial in Charlotte, N.C., has a new chief executive.

TowneBank in Hampton Roads, Va., reported a lower quarterly profit due to higher costs tied to its recent acquisitions.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., has hired the wealth management team of Denver Retirement Partners.

Bank of America is following Wells Fargo by putting out for sale the last of its federally guaranteed student loans. The move should be positive for the bank, and in theory it may even have a chance to again reap returns tied to the loans, but without bearing all of the risk.

Three recent deals involving midsize sellers have gone far reversing regional bankers' fears of M&A. Still, the real evidence of progress must involve seeing those deals close.

Peoples Community National Bank in Bremen, Ga., has changed its name and logo.

Terry Robinson, a longtime California banker, died on Jan. 11, three days before his Manhattan Bancorp announced a proposed merger with Plaza Bancorp. Manhattan, which is operating under an OCC order, did not publicly disclose Robinson's death, or his Dec. 31 retirement, even though he played an integral role negotiating the merger.

Kentucky First Federal Bancorp is merging its two banks.

Revising the current control rules could give banks access to more capital from private equity, hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has received regulatory approval to form a broker-dealer subsidiary that will expand its merchant banking capabilities.

BB&T in Winston-Salem, N.C., has received regulatory approval to buy Citigroup's remaining branches in Texas.

Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., has agreed to sell a total of 17 branches in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio to First Mid-Illinois Bancshares and MainSource Financial Group.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has withdrawn its agreement to buy Mackinac Savings Bank in Boynton Beach, Fla., and may instead try to open a credit union.

The Justice Department is seeking to advance a more-than-five-year probe into whether Moody's Investors Service inflated ratings during the U.S. housing boom, according to three people familiar with matter.

Investors Bancorp in Short Hills, N.J., reported higher quarterly income thanks to a combination of acquisitions and organic growth.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will require nonbank mortgage firms to meet minimum liquidity and net worth standards to curb risks to taxpayers from the rapidly expanding industry.

MB Financial in Chicago reported a sharp rise in quarterly earnings in its first full quarter following the acquisition of Taylor Capital.

National Bank Holdings in Greenwood Village, Colo., has finally returned to the acquisition game, by agreeing to buy Pine River Bank in Bayfield, Colo.

Community & Southern Holdings in Atlanta has agreed to buy Community Business Bank in Cumming, Ga.