Banner Corp. (BANR) in Walla Walla, Wash., has agreed to buy six branches in Oregon from Sterling Financial (STSA) in Spokane, Wash.

South Street Financial had just given up on raising capital and had hired Raymond James to evaluate possible suitors when a BNC representative visited the CEO's office to request merger talks.

The biggest banks are coming off a year when their stocks and profits soared. Yet below the surface, they face a number of vexing problems: more regulation, less lucrative trading, an inability to do big deals and lower multiples than many smaller rivals. American Banker staffers discuss whether such factors may some day encourage shareholders to agitate for breakups.

Steven Antonakes, the CFPB's deputy director, gave a speech which indicated the agency has shifted to a hard-line stance regarding compliance with a new mortgage servicing rule that went into effect last month. "Business as usual has ended in the mortgage servicing industry," he said.

Companies want to avoid borrowing from inflexible hedge funds and banks that conduct business with competitors.

Investment bank Houlihan Lokey has added a director with ample experience in mortgage banking deals to its financial institutions group.

First Defiance Financial (FDEF) in Defiance, Ohio, has agreed to buy First Community Bank in Columbus, Ohio.

The company's management team is confident it can build off a beachhead, making its case by referencing past forays into Baton Rouge, La., and Houston.

Mergers and acquisitions have gained steam in early 2014. Here is a rundown of the whole-bank deals, shedding of noncore businesses and swapping of securities so far this year.

First Financial Holdings (SCBT) in Columbia, S.C., is planning to change its name for the second time in as many years.

CVB Financial (CVBF) in Ontario, Calif., has agreed to buy America Bancshares in Newport Beach, Calif.

Equifax, an Atlanta credit reporting firm, announced revenues in 2013 were more than $2.3 billion, up 11 percent from 2012. Profits were up 29.3 percent last year, to $351.8 million.

The future of bank M&A took clearer shape in 2013. A certain kind of deal, the merger of equals, rose to the fore and that momentum has carried into 2014. The trend coincides with a change in dealmaking styles. Buyers used to win banks in pricey, unpredictable auctions. Now they have to be friendly masters of the negotiating table, and often have to conduct patient talks over an extended period of time. It all sounds very friendly, but it's hard to do.