The $9.7 billion-asset company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that it could sell the stock from time to time through Credit Suisse Securities.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan's second-biggest bank by market value, would be open to a purchase of BNP Paribas' U.S. unit BancWest amid a push for acquisitions abroad, Chairman Masayuki Oku said.

The $1.6-billion asset company, based in Asheville, N.C., is headed into Virginia for the first time after announcing plans Thursday to open a commercial loan production office in Roanoke.

The company claims in a lawsuit against the Puerto Rican government that the territory could lose "a major lender in the Puerto Rico housing market" if it is denied a $230 million tax refund.

Donald Shamey, president and chief executive at NexTier Bank in Butler, Pa. will retire in July after 40 years at the helm.

Fidelity Southern (LION) in Atlanta said Thursday that it is buying five branches and roughly $200 million of deposits from CenterState Bank of Florida (CSFL).

BNC Bancorp (BNCN) in High Point, N.C., has agreed to buy Harbor Bank Group in Charleston, S.C.

The Armed Forces Benefit Association plans to sell its bank to local management. While insurers have been fleeing the industry due to regulation, the group says it is getting out because its membership's use of the bank is falling and it would rather use the capital to expand its life insurance business.

It's not easy to survive as a single-branch community bank anymore. That's the view of John Essen, president of Community Savings Bank in Bethel, Ohio, which agreed this week to merge with Home Building and Loan Co., a savings and loan in Greenfield, Ohio.

Stifel Financial (SF) has agreed to buy a Legg Mason wealth management unit, the two companies announced Wednesday.

There are few winners in the current debt collection system. The majority of debt collectors have earned their toxic reputations and are deserving of increasingly heavy regulatory scrutiny.

Bank of America has sold more than 230 branches with $7.5 billion in deposits in the last two years. Here is a list of the nine banks that have bought the bulk of those locations.

National Penn Bancshares (NPBC) in Allentown, Pa., has agreed to buy TF Financial (THRD) in Newtown, Pa. The $8.6 billion-asset National Penn will pay $138 million in cash and stock for the $846 million-asset TF Financial.

Old National Bancorp (ONB) in Evansville, Ind., has agreed to buy LSB Financial (LSBI) in Lafayette, Ind. The $9.6 billion-asset Old National will pay about $67 million, or $41.67 a share, in cash and stock for the $366 million-asset LSB.

Independent Bank Group (IBTX) in McKinney, Texas, plans to file a shelf registration that would allow it to sell up to $250 million in debt and equity securities.

They look great on paper, but mergers of equals are always difficult to integrate due to cultural issues. United Financial in Glastonbury, Conn., is learning that lesson with Jeff Sullivan's departure less than six weeks after the company's merger with Rockville Financial.

CU Bancorp (CUNB) in Encino, Calif., has agreed to buy 1st Enterprise Bank (FENB) in Los Angeles.

Independent Bank Group (IBTX) in McKinney, Texas, has agreed to buy Houston City Bancshares.

First BanCorp (FBP) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has resolved a large outstanding loan to Doral Financial (DRL) by taking on $242 million on mortgages that were used as collateral for the loan.

A key member of United Financial Bancorp's management team has departed a month after the company's merger with Rockville Financial.