Empire Bancorp in Islandia, N.Y., has raised $20 million in a private placement.

Simmons First National in Pine Bluff, Ark., has extended the termination date for its purchases of two banks due to delays securing regulatory approval.

Representative Kevin Yoder, who spearheaded this week's changes to the Dodd-Frank financial law's regulation of swaps transactions, has a message for Senator Elizabeth Warren: expect more pro-business changes in next year's spending bills.

The former Astoria chief, who died Sunday, took Astoria from a sleepy mutual to the fifth-biggest publicly traded thrift in New York. Engelke was also know for freely speaking his mind while maintaining strong relationships with fellow bankers.

Merger activity picked up some in 2014, with most of the big deals announced during the second half. Meanwhile, more banks appear to be growing comfortable with the process of getting deals approved by regulators.

Integrity Bancshares in Camp Hill, Pa., first approached S&T Bancorp about an $8 million loan before eventually agreeing to sell itself to the Indiana, Pa., company.

Size-based regulation is designed to curb banks' appetite for growth. This will affect every operational and strategic decision that banks make going forward.

Northwest Bancshares in Warren, Pa., has agreed to buy LNB Bancorp in Lorain, Ohio.

The $16.3 billion-asset UMB will pay $182.5 million in stock for the Marquette, which is owned by the Pohlad family. The acquisition, which values Marquette at 160% of its tangible book value, is expected to close in mid-2015.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended Dec. 12.

Bidding is over in the first bankruptcy auction to be held at the demand of trust-preferred creditors, but there's no clear winner.

Bridge Bancorp in Bridgehampton, N.Y., has agreed to buy Community National Bank in Melville, N.Y.

Trevor Burgess, CEO of C1 Financial, brings an investment banker's irreverence to the normally decorous business of community banking. But he's produced a record that backs up his brash talk.

BBVA's purchase this week of Madiva Soluciones will help it solve customer analytics problems. But more importantly, it brings the bank a stable of experienced data scientists.

The Mississippi company is hopeful examiners will recognize progress made on Bank Secrecy Act compliance, including a much bigger staff and enhanced systems. If all goes well, BancorpSouth could have a consent order lifted, paving the way for it to refile applications for two acquisitions it hopes to complete next year.

Bidding is over in the first bankruptcy auction to be held at the demand of trust-preferred creditors, but there's no clear winner.

WASHINGTON — Congress passed legislation late Thursday that will expand community bank access to the debt markets in order to finance acquisitions.

Investors in the failed Tennessee Commerce Bank have reached a tentative agreement to resolve a two-year-old class action involving the bank.

Georgia once was known as the state hit with the most bank failures. Renasant's agreement to buy Heritage Financial in Albany, Ga., is the latest of several deals where buyers have paid strong premiums to enter or expand in the state.

The $1 billion-asset ESB said in a press release Thursday that it will pay $53 million in cash for the $333 million-asset Citizens National.