Iberiabank Corp. (IBKC) in Layfayette, La., has agreed to buy Synovus Financial (SNV) operations in Memphis.

F.N.B. Corp. (FNB) in Pittsburgh has launched the first fund from its new small-business investment company.

Standard Financial (STND) in Monroeville, Pa., plans to delist from the Nasdaq and cease reporting with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Recent acquisitions by MB Financial and PacWest illustrate how deals can add value. M&A is returning as a valid alternative for implementing strategy that will reshape the industry.

Arvest Bank of Fayetteville, Ark., has bought the naming rights to a historic theater in downtown Kansas City four years after entering the market.

City Holding (CHCO) in Charleston, W.Va., said it will close a branch in Virginia Beach after determining that the location had an undesirable deposit mix.

The decision by private-equity backers of Sterling Financial to push for a sale of the entire Spokane company, rather than to merely unload their shares, surprised investors. It also showed that investor exits are a complex business which often defy expectations.

Failures, mergers and charter consolidations have all played a role in the latest decline, but what's really driving down the numbers is the lack of de novos.

Banks can do business with Internet-based lenders that don’t violate the law, the nation’s primary payment system said in a letter that followed warnings from regulators about the online firms’ practices.

Paul Aguggia is resigning from a large law firm to take the helm at Clifton Savings Bancorp in New Jersey, joining the company in advance of an anticipated second-step conversion.

Alex Alden, formerly of UBS, has joined brokerage firm Sterne Agee to expand the financial technology practice of its investment bank.

Old National Bancorp (ONB) in Evansville, Ind., has agreed to sell two branches in Indiana: one to MainSource Financial, and one to River Valley Bancorp.

Stonegate Bank (SGBK) in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has agreed to buy Florida Shores Bancorp in Pompano Beach.

Simmons First (SFNC) in Pine Bluff, Ark., has submitted a bid in bankruptcy court in an effort to buy Metropolitan National Bank in Little Rock, Ark.

Banks in general are paying departing executives less money. But some, including Sterling Bancorp in New York, are still approving multimillion-dollar parachutes.

Machias also agreed to acquire the assets at the six banks, including loans and real estate, and about $75 million of deposits, the companies said when they announced the sale in July.

The $2.6 billion-asset Community & Southern has agreed to pay $11.80 per common share of Verity, the companies announced Wednesday.

OmniAmerican Bancorp, the Texas lender whose stock has more than doubled since going public in 2010, is exploring a sale, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is boosting the target size for wealth-management takeovers to more than C$1 billion ($951 million) as it seeks to increase profit from the business.

Mark Severson plans to resign from Chemung Financial in Elmira, N.Y., Sept. 13 to pursue another opportunity, the $1.3 billion-asset company said Tuesday in a regulatory filing. Chemung will begin a search for his successor immediately.