Poage Bankshares in Ashland, Ky., has agreed to acquire Commonwealth Bank in Mount Sterling, Ky.

Modest bank asset growth is a reality. That needn't be a bad thing for bank stock prices, but operating strategies that try to fight it might be.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended Sept. 6.

Big banks are still avoiding bank M&A, but the reasons are evolving. Plenty are still looking inward, while others are focusing on buying fee businesses. U.S. Bank CEO Richard Davis says he doesn't want to be burdened with an integration when the economy takes off.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is receptive to the idea of Federal Home Loan Bank mergers, according to the agency's director.

After several years of setbacks, the idea of faster payments in the United States finally has genuine momentum.

BB&T is back the business of buying banks for the first time in several years, even though most of its peers think regulators are opposed to big-bank M&A. BB&T's investments in compliance improvements make its executives feel confident about getting new deals done, CEO Kelly King says.

BB&T has agreed to buy the Bank of Kentucky for $363 million in cash and stock. The acquisition would allow the $188 billion-asset BB&T to expand in the northern Kentucky and Cincinnati region, where the $1.9 billion-asset Bank of Kentucky operates 32 branches.

The Iowa Credit Union Division has placed Louden Depot Community Credit Union in Fairfield, Iowa, into receivership.

National Penn Bancshares in Allentown, Pa., plans to raise $100 million through a debt offering.

Citizens Financial Group, a U.S. subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, is seeking a valuation of as much as $14 billion as it enters the final stages of an initial public offering.

The $2.5 billion-asset QCR said in a press release Friday that the new company will include the mortgage staff from its Quad City Bank & Trust.

Banc of California has announced extensive community reinvestment goals as part of its planned purchase of 20 Banco Popular branches in Southern California. The agreement, which appeased a community group that had opposed the sale, shows how much power such organizations wield when it comes to M&A.

Camden Fine at the Independent Community Bankers of America believes entrepreneurial bankers will return to starting new banks in the latter half of this decade as the industry adjusts to the new business conditions and as consolidation creates voids.

BancorpSouth in Tupelo, Miss., has been hit with a consent order tied to compliance weaknesses tied to the Bank Secrecy Act and the Patriot Act.

A large shareholder at Valley Community Bank is objecting to the Pleasanton, Calif., company's sale to FNB Bancorp in South San Francisco.

A judge has ruled that the involuntary bankruptcy of FMB Bancshares in Lakeland, Ga., may proceed, a decision that could embolden more trust-preferred creditors to pursue a similar strategy.

Congressional Bancshares in Bethesda, Md., has agreed to buy American Bank Holdings in Bethesda.

JPMorgan Chase has sold a retirement plan services business unit in Overland Park, Kan., to Great-West Financial in Greenwood Village, Colo.

Intervest Bancshares in New York has officially exited the Troubled Asset Relief Program.